The guided-missile destroyers Hopper and O'Kane left Pearl Harbor yesterday for separate deployments to the Middle East and the western Pacific.

The Hopper is deploying in support of ballistic missile defense exercises to the Middle East, the Navy said.

Multiple U.S. warships equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defense capabilities are expected to participate in mid-October with Israel in the biennial Juniper Cobra exercise.

Cmdr. Timothy Steadman, O'Kane's commanding officer, will oversee training while operating in the western Pacific, the Navy said. The Pearl Harbor destroyer will operate with the USS George Washington carrier strike group.

The O'Kane also will participate in an exercise with Japan testing anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and ballistic missile defense working relationships with the Japanese.