Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a contract modification to incorporate the «Flight III» upgrades to the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) guided missile destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125). The ship is the fifth of five destroyers the company was originally awarded in June 2013.
«We have proven our success in the DDG-51 class over the past 30 years, and our shipbuilders are ready now to build the first Flight III ship», Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. «This will be the 35th Aegis destroyer we will build for the U.S. Navy in what has been one of our company’s most successful programs. These ships are in high demand, and this Flight III ship will be the most capable DDG-51-class ship ever built».
The value of the flight upgrade modification is withheld due to business sensitivities.
DDG-51 Flight III will incorporate the new Advanced Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) that will replace the existing SPY-1 radar installed on the previous DDG-51 ships. To support the new Flight III systems, the installed power and cooling will be increased accordingly.
USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) is the first ship named for Captain Jack H. Lucas, who, at the age of 14, forged his mother’s signature to join the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves during World War II. Lucas, then a private first class in the Marine Corps, turned 17 just five days before the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima and stowed away on USS Deuel (APA-160) to fight in the campaign. During a close firefight with Japanese forces, Lucas saved the lives of three fellow Marines when, after two enemy hand-grenades were thrown into a U.S. trench, he placed himself on one grenade while simultaneously pulling the other under his body. One of the grenades did not explode; the other exploded but only injured Lucas.
Lucas is the youngest Marine and the youngest service member in World War II to receive the Medal of Honor.
The five-ship destroyer contract, part of a multi-year procurement in the DDG-51 program, allows Ingalls to build ships more efficiently and creates greater strength and stability in the important supplier base.
Ingalls has delivered 29 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy, with the newest ship, USS John Finn (DDG-113), scheduled to be commissioned on July 15 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls are USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114), USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117), USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119), USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121) and USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123).
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships that can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States’ military strategy. DDGs are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.
Flight IIA: Restart
| Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| DDG-113 John Finn | HIIIS | 03-28-15 | ||
| DDG-114 Ralph Johnson | HIIIS | 12-12-15 | ||
| DDG-115 Rafael Peralta | GDBIW | 10-31-15 |
Flight IIA: Technology Insertion
| Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| DDG-116 Thomas Hudner | GDBIW | 04-01-17 | ||
| DDG-117 Paul Ignatius | HIIIS | 11-12-16 | ||
| DDG-118 Daniel Inouye | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-119 Delbert D. Black | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-120 Carl M. Levin | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-121 Frank E. Peterson Jr. | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-122 John Basilone | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-123 Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee | HIIIS |
Flight III
| Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| DDG-124 Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-125 Jack H. Lucas | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-126 Louis H. Wilson, Jr. | GDBIW |