The U.S. Navy awarded $126 million to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works to proceed to plan yard services for the next series of DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. The contract covers the first year of the construction program for the destroyers, plus options for four more years.
Planning yard services include design, material kitting, logistics, planning and execution. The majority of the Planning Yard services work will be performed at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, a General Dynamics division.
Bath Iron Works also currently manages post-delivery maintenance and modernization activities for DDG 1000-class ships and LCS-class ships.
In December 2018, the USN issued a contract to Bath Iron Works to build a fifth DDG 51 guided missile destroyer, a $910-million award that modifies an earlier, $3.9-billion program. The new ship will be funded in the U.S. Dept. of Defense FY 2019 budget.
The entire construction program covers six ships of the USN Arleigh Burke series of guided-missile destroyers that are designed to function with the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar. Each ship is 505-509 ft (154 to 155 m) long and has a displacement of 8,315-9,200 tons.
