75th Arleigh Burke, a batch III, ready to commission

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MikeJames
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75th Arleigh Burke, a batch III, ready to commission

Post by MikeJames »

US Navy’s First Flight-III Destroyer Completes Builders Trials

Jack H Lucas 01.jpg

The U.S. Navy’s first Flight-III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, future USS Jack H. Lucas completed Builder’s Trials on Dec 15, 2022.

Naval News Staff 20 Dec 2022

The future USS Jack H. Lucas will be the 75th Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class destroyer, and the first of the DDG 51 Flight III ships.

Builder’s trials consist of a series of in-port and at-sea demonstrations that allow the shipbuilder to assess the ship’s systems. For DDG 125, these trials also mark the first opportunity to test the new Flight III systems while underway. The trials are conducted by the shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

“Embarking on Builder’s Sea Trials is a significant accomplishment for the DDG 51 program. As the first Flight III ship, DDG 125 is the culmination of years of dedication and perseverance to design, build, and integrate the Flight III capability of BL 10, AMDR and the supporting systems such as the new Electric Plant and associated upgrade to the Machinery Control System.”

Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships.

The future USS Jack H. Lucas will be the 75th Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class destroyer, and the first of the DDG 51 Flight III ships. 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. Flight III is the fourth Flight upgrade in the proud history of the class, and the largest upgrade to date.

The DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG 51) is a multi-mission guided missile destroyer able to operate offensively and defensively, independently, or as units of Carrier Strike Groups, Expeditionary Strike Groups, and Surface Action Groups. These ships respond to the full range of military operations including Low Intensity Conflict/Coastal and Littoral Offshore Warfare scenarios and open ocean conflict, providing or augmenting power projection. Flight III ships will fill the critical need for enhanced surface combatant Integrated Air and Missile Defense.

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is also building the future Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131) and Sam Nunn (DDG 133).

-End-

Flight III destroyers will have improved capability and capacity to perform Anti-Air Warfare and Ballistic Missile Defense in support of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense mission. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for Anti-Air Warfare.

The Flight III design contains modifications from the earlier DDG 51 class, to enable the SPY-6 radar, in association with Aegis Baseline 10, which includes larger electronically scanned arrays and the power generation and cooling equipment required to operate the powerful new radar.
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Re: 75th Arleigh Burke, a batch III, ready to commission

Post by rritchie71 »

It’s quite a milestone. The Arleigh Burke hull design was based on the Spruance hull (as was the Tico) back in the 80’s. I believe the Flight III is the final iteration as the hulls’ capacity has been reached.

The next destroyer class will be the all new DDG (X). Although the Arleigh Burkes will still be around into the 2060’s if the Flight III’s are used for their full life span.

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Re: 75th Arleigh Burke, a batch III, ready to commission

Post by MikeJames »

The US Navy says that the key limitation of the Burke class is their power generation capability.

Short of fitting a workable fusion plant, they simply cannot generate enough power for the SPY-6 orbital intercept capable phased array radar, the ships computers, housekeeping power, movement, sensors and the future directed energy weapons (either rail guns or lasers) both of which are proving to be very energy demanding, even in test rigs.

Hence the future DDG (X) is beginning design work, the first one might make it into the water while I'm still alive, maybe.

Mike
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