First Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyer completes acceptance trials

DDG 125, the first Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer built in the Flight III configuration, on trials [U.S. Navy photograph]

The future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) has successfully completed acceptance trials, returning to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division on May 18. DDG 125 is the first Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer built in the Flight III configuration.

The Flight III upgrade is centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and incorporates upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity.

During acceptance trials, the ship and its crew performed a series of demonstrations for review by the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). INSURV uses these demonstrations to validate Navy specifications and requirements prior to delivery of the ship to the U.S. Navy.

“As the first Flight III ship, the future USS Jack H. Lucas will bring cutting edge capability to the Fleet” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “This week’s trials represent a significant milestone in demonstrating the ship’s readiness for delivery and beginning test and evaluation efforts.”

“Collaboration has been the single largest enabler to delivering this new capability to the fleet,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson. “Our extended network of Navy, Ingalls and supplier partners got this done through open communication, hard work and tenacity.”

Ingalls has delivered 34 destroyers to the U.S. Navy, with four more Flight IIIs currently under construction including DDG 125, Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131) and Sam Nunn (DDG 133). The final Ingalls-built Flight IIA ship, Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), sailed away from Ingalls in April and was commissioned this month in Key West, Florida.