The US Navy has exercised an option to add an additional Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer to a multi-year contract awarded in 2023 to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (GDBIW).
The company currently has seven Arleigh Burke-class destroyers under construction. These include the flight IIA destroyers USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (pictured) and USS Patrick Gallagher and the flight III configuration destroyers USS Louis H. Wilson Jr., USS William Charette, USS Quentin Walsh, USS John E. Kilmer and USS Richard G. Lugar.
The Arleigh Burke-class flight IIA ships will be equipped with improved integrated air and missile defence capabilities, increased computing power, and radar upgrades that improve detection range and reaction time against modern air warfare and ballistic missile threats.
The flight III ships will meanwhile each feature the AN/SPY-6(V)1 air and missile defence radar and incorporate upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet.
The 513-foot (156-metre) destroyers built by GDBIW will each be powered by four GE LM2500 gas turbines that deliver a speed of 31 knots.
Armament will include a 127mm naval gun, 25mm autocannons, a 20mm close-in weapon system, torpedoes, surface-to-air missiles, and Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.