The first operational launcher was installed aboard USS Bunker Hill. The prototype for the launcher was tested and evaluated on board USS Norton Sound. Originally, the system was only intended to fire the RIM-66 Standard missile, but the height of the Mk 41 was increased to accommodate the larger Tomahawk missile. Refinement of the initial concept of Aegis system in the 1960s continued through the 1960s and 1970s, and the Mk 41 was conceived in 1976.
