The U.S. Navy issued a contract to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works to build a fifth DDG 51 guided missile destroyer, a $910-million award that modifies the multi-year, $3.9-billion program announced in September. The new ship will be funded in the U.S. Dept. of Defense FY 2019 budget.
In that earlier contract, the General Dynamics business was assigned to build four ships, and the Navy held a separate competition for an option ship, described by BIW as part of a fleet-expansion program.
At the same time, a $5.1-billion contract for six DDG 51 ships was placed with Huntington Ingalls Industries. Both contracts included options for five more ships from each company.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be funded in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget.
DDG 51, the USN Arleigh Burke, was the first of this 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.
These multi-mission destroyers are armed with over 90 missiles (Tomahawk missiles and anti-aircraft missiles) and capable of strategic land strike missions, anti-aircraft warfare, and anti-submarine warfare.
There are 82 such vessels in service now, and Bath Iron Works currently has five more DDG 51 destroyers in production. There are six more, including the five ships in the new contract, in backlog production.
