The US Navy has awarded contracts for nine additional Arleigh Burke Flight IIA class destroyers. The orders are split between two shipyards, with Huntington Ingalls getting US$3.3 billion worth of work for five ships, starting with the future Paul Ignatius (DDG-117) and Daniel Inouye (DDG-118). Bath Iron Works will get US$2.8 billion to build four ships, with an option for a fifth.
The ships are anticipated to cost between US$660 and US$700 million each, a figure significantly less than the US$3 billion apiece for the Zumwalt class, hence the recommencement of series production. The Arleigh Burkes are already considered one of the most powerful warships ever built, and the next phase will at some stage incorporate design changes for a native ballistic missile defence capability. The so-called Flight III ships, planned for DDG-123 onwards, will feature a new digital beamforming Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), currently under development, to replace the passive electronically scanned array Aegis system.
