JS Maya (DDG-179) AEGIS Destroyer
Pit-Road 1/700 with Tetra PE

Being commissioned in March of 2020, the JS Maya (DDG-179) is a lead ship of the JMSDF´s most recent (as of 2023) AEGIS-equipped vessels after the previous Kongo- and Atago-classes. The vessels design appears similar to the US Navy´s Arleigh Burke-class, which the Kongos were somewhat modelled after, but the Japanese designs are larger (maya measures 170m long) and have upgraded/different internals to comply with their mission sets. Being the most modern design, the Maya has a lot of advanched features included from the get-go, as such as electric propulsion, advanched communications and BMD (balllistic missile defence) capabilities among others.

While modern vessels may not apeal to every modeller, I personally find them to be very intriguing works of modern technology and shipbuilding as well as having a lot of small but interesting visual details as such as antennae, CIWS and helicopters which make them interesting as a model. Using the recent and nicely detailed Pit-Road kit of the Maya together with the fitting photoetch-set from Tetra, it should make a nice addition to the naval part of my collection.