Navy awards multi-year contracts for nine Flight III destroyers

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

The Navy yesterday awarded multi-year construction contracts for nine DDG 51 class destroyers. Three will be built at GD Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, one each in FY 2023, 2024, and 2026. Six will be built at Huntington Ingalls Inc.’s Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., one in FY 2023, one in FY 2024, two in FY 2025, one in FY 2026, and one in FY 2027.

Both multi-year contracts include options for engineering change proposals, design budgeting requirements, and post-delivery availabilities. They also includes options for the construction of additional DDG 51 class ships. These may be subject to future competition. Therefore, says the Navy, the dollar values associated with the multiyear contracts “are considered source selection sensitive information and will not be made public at this time.”

“These contract awards will allow the Navy to continue delivery of lethal capacity in an affordable and effective manner,” said Frederick Stefany, acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. “The Navy saved $830 million for these nine ships through multi-year procurement contracts and also has options for additional ships to accelerate delivery of the critical DDG 51 Flight III capabilities to our naval force.”

A NAVSEA statement says the contract options for additional ships over the next five years provide the Navy and Congress flexibility to increase DDG 51 build rates, if authorized and appropriated

The destroyers are being procured in a Flight III configuration, relying on a stable and mature design while delivering critical Integrated Air and Missile Defense capability with the AN/SPY6(V)(1) Air and Missile Defense Radar. The Navy’s first Flight III destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), was delivered by HII Ingalls in June 2023.

“These contracts will provide next-generation Integrated Air and Missile Defense capability for our future fleet while ensuring a stable shipbuilding and defense industrial base for the foreseeable future,” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “The Navy is proud to be teaming with the dedicated shipbuilders at HII Ingalls and GD BIW to construct and deliver these warships to the fleet.”

“Arleigh Burke class destroyers are the backbone of the surface fleet and one of the most successful shipbuilding programs in the history of the Navy,” said Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy. “These awards provide a long term stable demand signal to the shipbuilder and industrial supply base, encouraging industry investment in the workforce. With our industry partners, we are going to continue to build them; and they will continue to secure the seas for decades to come!”