Navy pushes back DDG-51 upgrade

The Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries have reached a “handshake agreement” for the shipbuilder to build the first Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer (DDG-51) at HII’s Pascagoula, Miss., yard, acting acquisition chief Allison Stiller told a House Armed Services subcommittee. The move will push back the first ship to field a next-generation solid-state, S-band radar, and an upgraded combat suite designed to counter cruise and ballistic missiles and enemy aircraft simultaneously. The Navy decided to award a third-ship FY-16 Flight III hull to Bath (Maine) Iron Works (BIW) as part of a “swap ship” agreement with HII. The update from Stiller on Flight III delays comes as the Navy has been in year-long negotiations with both HII and BIW over the ECPs to modify a Flight IIA hull to include AN/SPY-6 air and missile defense radar, and upgrades for the electrical and cooling systems to accommodate a new system. (Source: USNI News 05/31/17)