The Navy accepted delivery of the new Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118) on March 8.
DDG-118 was built by General Dynamics’ [GD] Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Bath, Maine.
The Navy noted this marks the official transfer of the ship from shipbuilder to the Navy following a series of at-sea and pier-side trials to demonstrate operational and material readiness.
“This highly capable platform will deliver the necessary combat power and proven capacity as the ship joins the world’s greatest Navy. DDG-118 will continue to honor the legacy of its namesake and ‘Go For Broke’ for decades to come as it supports our Country,” Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships, said in a statement.
DDG-118 is a Flight IIA destroyer featuring Aegis Baseline 9 for improved integrated air and missile defense capabilities as well as more computing power, and radar upgrades.
The ship is named after former Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who represented Hawaii in the Senate from 1963 until he died in 2012. Inouye received the Medal of Honor in 2000 for heroism in action during service in Italy during World War II
BIW is also currently in production on the future Flight IIA destroyers Carl M. Levin (DDG-120), John Basilone (DDG-122), Harvey C. Barnum (DDG-124), and Patrick Gallagher (DDG-127). The company is also in production on Flight III ships Louis H. Wilson, Jr. (DDG-126) and William Charette (DDG-130) as well as the future Zumwalt-class destroyer, Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002).
The Daniel Inouye completed acceptance trials in February (Defense Daily, Feb. 5) after GD and the Navy finished builder’s trials last December (Defense Daily, Dec. 22, 2020).
DDG-118 is the 37th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer delivered by GD Bath Iron Works to the Navy.