Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has delivered the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Ted Stevens (DDG 128) to the U.S. Navy at its Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard, advancing the service’s efforts to modernize its surface fleet and expand production of Flight III destroyers amid intensifying maritime competition.
The handover marks a significant milestone in the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class program, which Navy and industry leaders view as central to maintaining surface combatant dominance in increasingly complex operating environments. The delivery supports the Navy’s transition toward Distributed Maritime Operations, where advanced sensors, networked firepower, and survivability are critical.
Ingalls President Brian Blanchette described the event as evidence of growing industrial momentum across the destroyer line, noting that the program is accelerating production while delivering enhanced combat capability to the fleet. He emphasized that DDG 128 will serve as a long-term asset in strengthening U.S. maritime security.
The Arleigh Burke class is the longest-running destroyer production program in U.S. Navy history, with more than 80 ships delivered, under construction, or planned. Designed around the Aegis Combat System, the class performs a wide range of missions, including air defense, ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, and surface strike. Flight III represents a major evolutionary step, introducing significantly greater sensor capacity, power generation, and cooling margins.
At the core of Ted Stevens’ enhanced capability is the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar, the most advanced radar ever fielded on a U.S. Navy surface combatant. Built using gallium nitride technology, SPY-6 offers dramatically improved sensitivity, range, and target discrimination compared to legacy systems. Integrated with the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system, the ship can conduct complex, multi-domain engagements and operate as a theater-level air and missile defense platform.
