The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) is the first destroyer of the United States Navy built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The first ship was commissioned on 4 July 1991. After the decommissioning of the last Spruance-class destroyer, USS Cushing, on September 21, 2005, the Arleigh Burke class ships became the U.S. Navy's only active destroyers and the class has the longest production run for any US Navy surface combatant.
The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of World War II. Admiral Burke was alive when the class leader was commissioned.
The Arleigh Burke class are among the most powerful destroyers ever built in the United States. Only the Spruance class destroyers were larger (563 feet). The Burke class destroyers are more heavily armed than previous guided-missile destroyers. However it is important to remember that the mission of the Burke class is significantly different than the Spruance class. The larger Ticonderoga class ships were constructed on Spruance class hullforms, but are designated as cruisers due to their radically different mission and weapons systems.
The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of World War II. Admiral Burke was alive when the class leader was commissioned.
The Arleigh Burke class are among the most powerful destroyers ever built in the United States. Only the Spruance class destroyers were larger (563 feet). The Burke class destroyers are more heavily armed than previous guided-missile destroyers. However it is important to remember that the mission of the Burke class is significantly different than the Spruance class. The larger Ticonderoga class ships were constructed on Spruance class hullforms, but are designated as cruisers due to their radically different mission and weapons systems.
The Arleigh Burke's designers incorporated lessons learned from the Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruisers. The Ticonderoga class cruisers were supposedly becoming too expensive to continue building, and too difficult to upgrade. Visually, the angled rather than traditional vertical surfaces and the tripod mainmast of the Arleigh Burke design are part of "stealth" technologies, which improve the ship's ability to evade and/or destroy anti-ship cruise missiles.
With the Arleigh Burke class, the US Navy returned to traditional all-steel construction. Combining a steel hull with an aluminum superstructure had been an innovation to reduce topweight, but the lighter metal proved vulnerable to cracking. Aluminum is also less fire-resistant than steel. A 1975 fire aboard USS Belknap gutted her aluminum superstructure. Later battle damage to Royal Navy ships during the Falklands War supported the decision to employ a steel superstructure.
A Collective Protection System makes the Arleigh Burke class the first U.S. warships designed with an air-filtration system against nuclear, biological and chemical warfare.
So vital has the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMD) role of the class become that all ships of the class are being updated with BMD capability. Production of Burkes is being restarted in place of the Zumwalt class destroyers.
Development
In 1980 the US Navy initiated design studies with seven contractors. By 1983 the number of competitors had been reduced to three; Bath Iron Works, Todd Shipyards and Ingalls Shipbuilding. On 3 April 1985 Bath Iron Works received a US$321.9 million contract to build the first of class, USS Arleigh Burke. Gibbs & Cox was awarded the contract to be the lead ship design agent. The total cost of the first ship was put at US$1.1 billion, the other US$778 million being for the ship's weapons systems. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988, and launched on 16 September 1989 by Mrs. Arleigh Burke. The Admiral himself was present at her commissioning ceremony on 4 July 1991, held on the waterfront in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.
The "Flight IIA Arleigh Burke" ships have several new features, beginning with the Oscar Austin (DDG-79). Among the changes are the addition of two hangars for ASW helicopters, and a new, longer Mark 45 Mod 4 5-inch/62-caliber naval gun (fitted on Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) and later ships). Later Flight IIA ships starting with USS Mustin have a modified funnel design that buries the funnels within the superstructure as a signature-reduction measure. TACTAS towed array sonar was omitted from flight IIA ships and they also lack Harpoon missile launchers. Ships from DDG-68 to DDG-84 have AN/SLQ-32 antennas that resemble V3 configuration similar to those deployed on Ticonderoga class cruisers, while the remainder have V2 variants externally resembling ones deployed on some Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates. V3 has an active electronic countermeasures component while V2 is passive only. A number of Flight IIA ships were constructed without a Phalanx CIWS because of the planned Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, but later the Navy decided to retrofit all IIA ships to carry at least one Phalanx CIWS by 2013.
USS Pinckney , USS Momsen, USS Chung-Hoon, USS Nitze, USS James E. Williams and USS Bainbridge hve superstructure differences to accommodate the Remote Mine-hunting System (RMS). Mk 32 torpedo tubes were moved to the missile deck from amidships as well.
USS Pinckney , USS Momsen, USS Chung-Hoon, USS Nitze, USS James E. Williams and USS Bainbridge hve superstructure differences to accommodate the Remote Mine-hunting System (RMS). Mk 32 torpedo tubes were moved to the missile deck from amidships as well.
Modernisation
The US Navy has begun a modernization program for the Arleigh Burke class aimed at improving the gun systems on the ships in an effort to address congressional concerns over the retirement of the Iowa-class battleships. This modernization was to include an extension of the range of the 5-inch (127 mm) guns on the Flight I Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (USS Arleigh Burke to USS Ross) with extended range guided munitions (ERGMs) that would enable the ships to fire projectiles about 40 nautical miles (74 km) inland. However the ERGM was cancelled.
The modernization program is designed to provide a comprehensive mid-life upgrade to ensure that the class remains effective. Reduced manning, increased mission effectiveness, and a reduced total cost of ownership are the goals of the modernization program. Modernization technologies will be integrated during new construction of DDG-111 and 112, then retrofitted into DDG Flight I and II ships during in-service overhaul periods. The first phase will update the hull, mechanical and electrical systems while the second phase will introduce an open architecture computing environment. The result will be improved capability in both ballistic missile defense (BMD) and littoral combat.
The class was scheduled to be replaced by the Zumwalt class destroyer beginning in 2020, but increasing threat of both long and short range missiles caused the Navy to restart production of the Arleigh Burke-class and consider placing littoral combat mission modules on the new ships.
In April 2009, the Navy announced a plan that limited the Zumwalt class to three units while ordering another three Arleigh Burke class ships from both Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding. On 2 December 2009, Northrop Grumman received a $170.7 million letter contract for DDG-113 long lead time materials. Formal awarding of the main construction contract is expected in 2010.
Flight III ships will be built starting in FY2016 in place of the canceled CG(X) program. The Flight III destroyers will have 14 foot diameter radars (up from 12 feet currently) and various other design improvements, such as larger size and much larger missile tubes. These Air and Missile Defense Radars (AMDR) will use digital beamforming.
In July 2010, BAE Systems announced that they had been awarded a contract to modernise 11 ships.
Operational History
One Arleigh Burke class ship, the USS Cole, was damaged while docked by an attack in which an improvised explosive device was delivered by suicide bombers on a boat on October 12, 2000 in Aden, Yemen. The ship was repaired and returned to duty in 2001.
Ships of the class
| Name | Hull No | Status | |
| Arleigh Burke | DDG-51 | Active | |
| Barry | DDG-52 | Active | |
| John Paul Jones | DDG-53 | Active | |
| Curtis Wilbur | DDG-54 | Active | |
| Stout | DDG-55 | Active | |
| John S. McCain | DDG-56 | Active | |
| Mitscher | DDG-57 | Active | |
| Laboon | DDG-58 | Active | |
| Russell | DDG-59 | Active | |
| Paul Hamilton | DDG-60 | Active | |
| Ramage | DDG-61 | Active | |
| Fitzgerald | DDG-62 | Active | |
| Stethem | DDG-63 | Active | |
| Carney | DDG-64 | Active | |
| Benfold | DDG-65 | Active | |
| Gonzalez | DDG-66 | Active | |
| Cole | DDG-67 | Active | |
| The Sullivans | DDG-68 | Active | |
| Milius | DDG-69 | Active | |
| Hopper | DDG-70 | Active | |
| Ross | DDG-71 | Active | |
| Mahan | DDG-72 | Active | |
| Decatur | DDG-73 | Active | |
| McFaul | DDG-74 | Active | |
| Donald Cook | DDG-75 | Active | |
| Higgins | DDG-76 | Active | |
| O'Kane | DDG-77 | Active | |
| Porter | DDG-78 | Active | |
| Oscar Austin | DDG-79 | Active | |
| Roosevelt | DDG-80 | Active | |
| Winston S. Churchill | DDG-81 | Active | |
| Lassen | DDG-82 | Active | |
| Howard | DDG-83 | Active | |
| Bulkeley | DDG-84 | Active | |
| McCampbell | DDG-85 | Active | |
| Shoup | DDG-86 | Active | |
| Mason | DDG-87 | Active | |
| Preble | DDG-88 | Active | |
| Mustin | DDG-89 | Active | |
| Chafee | DDG-90 | Active | |
| Pinckney | DDG-91 | Active | |
| Momsen | DDG-92 | Active | |
| Chung-Hoon | DDG-93 | Active | |
| Nitze | DDG-94 | Active | |
| James E. Williams | DDG-95 | Active | |
| Bainbridge | DDG-96 | Active | |
| Halsey | DDG-97 | Active | |
| Forrest Sherman | DDG-98 | Active | |
| Farragut | DDG-99 | Active | |
| Kidd | DDG-100 | Active | |
| Gridley | DDG-101 | Active | |
| Sampson | DDG-102 | Active | |
| Truxtun | DDG-103 | Active | |
| Sterett | DDG-104 | Active | |
| Dewey | DDG-105 | Active | |
| Stockdale | DDG-106 | Active | |
| Gravely | DDG-107 | Launched | |
| Wayne E. Meyer | DDG-108 | Active | |
| Jason Dunham | DDG-109 | Launched | |
| William P. Lawrence | DDG-110 | Launched | |
| Spruance | DDG-111 | Launched | |
| Michael Murphy | DDG-112 | Keel Laid | |
| Callaghan | DDG-113 | Contracted | |
| Scott | DDG-114 | Contracted | |
| Chandler | DDG-115 | Contracted |
USS The Sullivans is seen here departing Faslane
USS Roosevelt seen here departing Faslane the same day
