USN launches first new Aegis destroyer in four years

The first of the US Navy’s (USN) restart Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyers has entered the water, officials announced on 30 March.

USN launches first new Aegis destroyer in four years

Grace Jean, Washington, DC – IHS Jane’s Navy International

The first of the US Navy’s (USN) restart Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyers has entered the water, officials announced on 30 March.

John Finn (DDG 113), lead ship of the USN’s Flight IIA restart programme, was launched on 28 March at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII’s) Ingalls Shipbuilding division.

Three destroyers are under construction at the Pascagoula, Mississippi, yard, with four additional destroyers under contract.

John Finn is the USN’s first DDG 51 to hit the water in four years. The navy restarted Flight IIA production to help fill a surface combatant gap when the Zumwalt destroyer (DDG 1000) class was truncated.

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Source: Janes.