General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (GDBIW) has laid the keel of the future USS John E. Kilmer, a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer (DDG).
The ship will be built as an Arleigh Burke flight III destroyer featuring an AN/SPY-6(V)1 air and missile defence radar and upgrades to her electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet.
The 513-foot (156-metre) destroyer will be 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.
The future DDG 134 is named for Hospital Corpsman John Edward Kilmer, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Korean War.
On August 13, 1952, Hospitalman Kilmer braved heavy fire to provide critical medical aid to US Marines at the Battle of Bunker Hill near Panmunjon, South Korea. Kilmer was mortally wounded during the battle while shielding a marine from enemy fire.
GDBIW is also building five other Arleigh Burke-class destroyers for the US Navy.
These include the flight IIA destroyer USS Patrick Gallagher and the flight III destroyers USS Louis H. Wilson Jr., USS William Charette, USS Quentin Walsh, and USS Richard G. Lugar.
