DDG 51 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) is a line of destroyers designed for the United States Navy and centered on the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar and the Aegis Combat System. Admiral Arleigh Burke, an American destroyer officer in World War II who later served as Chief of Naval Operations, is honored by having his class bear his name. While Admiral Burke was still alive, the lead ship, USS Arleigh Burke, was put into service.
These warships were created as multi-mission destroyers, equipped with Tomahawk missiles for strategic land strikes, powerful Aegis radar and surface-to-air missiles for anti-aircraft warfare, and anti-submarine rockets and helicopters for anti-submarine warfare, and Harpoon missile launchers for anti-surface warfare. Ships of this class have also started to show some promise as mobile anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite weaponry platforms, operating on 15 ships as of March 2009. Towed sonar and the Harpoon missile launcher are no longer included in some classes of the ship. Their superstructure and hull were built with a smaller radar cross-section in mind.
On July 4th, 1991, the first ship in the class was put into service. Prior to the Zumwalt class being operational in 2016, the Arleigh Burke-class ships were the only active destroyers in the U.S. Navy with the decommissioning of the final Spruance-class ship, USS Cushing, on September 21, 2005. The Arleigh Burke-class of US Navy surface combatants has had the longest production run since World War II. By May 2022, 70 of the class's initial 75 ships consisting of 21 Flight I, 7 Flight II, 34 Flight IIA, 3 Flight IIA Restart, and 10 Flight IIA Technology Insertion were in service. There are now 14 Flight III ships planned, but another 28 are anticipated, for a total of 42 in that flight and 117 ships overall for the class. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile cruisers are larger and more strongly armed than the majority of earlier guided missile cruisers, with an overall length of 505 to 509.5 feet (153.9 to 155.3 m), displacement ranging from 8,230 to 9,700 tons, and weaponry including over 90 missiles.
Cost per unit: $1.9 billion
