The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, including $5.2 billion in funding for three Arleigh Burke destroyers to be built at Bath Iron Works, and $642 million for future procurements of the destroyers.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, announced the approval in a release, noting the passage as “welcome news, as the bill will continue to support good-paying Maine jobs that boost our security at home and abroad.”
With seven DDG 51 destroyers already in the queue, the Navy is expected to announce its next multiyear procurement of Arleigh Burkes for fiscal years 2018-2022 — now slated at 13 — by Sept. 30, NavalToday reported.
Only BIW and Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi, build the destroyers for the Navy.
Construction of the DDG 124, the future USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr., officially began last week.
Retired Col. Harvey Barnum Jr. was at the shipyard to mark the start of fabrication, which signifies the first 100 tons of steel being cut, according to a release from the U.S. Navy.
Barnum received a Medal of Honor for his service during the Vietnam War.
Meanwhile, Ingalls began construction of the DDG 125, the future USS Jack H. Lucas, the first Arleigh Burke destroyer to be built with the “Flight III” configuration, including improved capacity to perform anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defense.
Bath Iron Works currently has six Arleigh Burkes in the pipeline:
— The future USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) successfully completed builder’s trials in March.
— Construction of the DDG 118, the future USS Daniel Inouye, began in April 2015 and is just more than half complete, BIW spokesman David Hench said Tuesday.
— Construction of the DDG 120, the future USS Carl Levin, began in the fall of 2015. Construction of the DDG 122, the future USS John Basilone, began in May 2017.
— The DDG 127, the future USS Gallagher, named for Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Navy Cross recipient Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher, is due to start later this summer, followed by the DDG 126, the future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr., which was awarded as part of a “swap ship” agreement.
BIW continues work on the final Zumwalt-class “stealth” destroyer, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002), after delivering the DDG 1000 and DDG 1001.
The 13 DDG 51s expected in the next multiyear procurement will be built with the Flight III design, with a new more capable radar called the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) or SPY-6 radar, according to a May 18, 2018, report by the Congressional Research Service.
The Navy has also announced that it will extend the lives of all existing DDG 51s by five to 10 years, to 45 years, in order to increase the size of the fleet more quickly.
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