Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division officially started fabrication of the Arleigh Burke class (DDG-51) destroyer USS Ted Stevens (DDG-128) on Monday, April 06, 2020. The start of fabrication signifies the first 100 tons of steel have been cut.
«As we begin this important milestone in the construction of another great warship, we look forward to continuing production and carrying on the extraordinary legacy of the U.S. Navy destroyer fleet», Ingalls DDG-51 Program Manager George Nungesser said.
The ship’s name honors former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, who served as a pilot in World War II and later as a senator representing Alaska. At the time he left office in 2009, he was the longest-serving Republican U.S. Senator in history.
Ingalls has delivered 31 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the U.S. Navy. Other destroyers currently under construction include USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119), USS Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG-121), USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) and USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125).
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships and 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. The guided missile destroyers 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.
CHARACTERISTICS
| Length Overall | 510 feet/156 m |
| Beam – Waterline | 59 feet/18 m |
| Draft | 30.5 feet/9.3 m |
| Displacement – Full Load | 9,217 tons/9,363 metric tons |
| Power Plant | 4 General electric LM 2500-30 gas turbines; 2 shafts; 2 CRP (Contra-Rotating) propellers; 100,000 shaft horsepower/75,000 kW |
| Speed | in excess of 30 knots/34.5 mph/55.5 km/h |
| Range | 4,400 NM/8,149 km at 20 knots/23 mph/37 km/h |
| Crew | 380 total: 32 Officers, 27 CPO (Chief Petty Officer), 321 OEM |
| Surveillance | SPY-1D Phased Array Radar (Lockheed Martin)/AN/SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar (Raytheon Company) and Aegis Combat System (Lockheed Martin); SPS-73(V) Navigation; SPS-67(V)3 Surface Search; 3 SPG-62 Illuminator; SQQ-89(V)6 sonar incorporating SQS-53C hull mounted and SQR-19 towed array sonars used with Mark-116 Mod 7 ASW fire control system |
| Electronics/Countermeasures | SLQ-32(V)3; Mark-53 Mod 0 Decoy System; Mark-234 Decoy System; SLQ-25A Torpedo Decoy; SLQ-39 Surface Decoy; URN-25 TACAN; UPX-29 IFF System; Kollmorgen Mark-46 Mod 1 Electro-Optical Director |
| Aircraft | 2 embarked SH-60 helicopters ASW operations; RAST (Recovery Assist, Secure and Traverse) |
| Armament | 2 Mark-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) with 96 Standard, Vertical Launch ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) & Tomahawk ASM (Air-to-Surface Missile)/LAM (Loitering Attack Missile); 5-in (127-mm)/54 (62) Mark-45 gun; 2 (1) CIWS (Close-In Weapon System); 2 Mark-32 triple 324-mm torpedo tubes for Mark-46 or Mark-50 ASW torpedos |
GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYERS LINEUP
Flight III
| Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| DDG-125 Jack H. Lucas | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-126 Louis H. Wilson, Jr. | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-128 Ted Stevens | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-129 Jeremiah Denton | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-130 William Charette | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-131 George M. Neal | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-132 Quentin Walsh | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-133 Sam Nunn | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-134 John E. Kilmer | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-135 Thad Cochran | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-136 Richard G. Lugar | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-137 | ||||
| DDG-138 |