The Navy will seek congressional approval for a multi-year contract to get nine Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers under construction during the next five fiscal years, the Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) manager for the restart program said yesterday.
The multi-year deal would run from fiscal 2013-2017, Capt. Mark Vandroff said at the Surface Navy Association conference in Arlington, Va.
The Navy decided in 2008 to restart the DDG-51 program, while scaling back the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer program to three ships. The Navy awarded the construction contract for the first ship under the restart program, the DDG-113, to Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII].
The DDG-113’s keel is expected to be laid next year and delivery of the destroyer is scheduled for 2016, Vandroff said. He said he is adapting some technologies developed under the DDG-1000 to the DDG-51 restart program, such as using the Common Display System in the ship’s command and control center.
The multi-year deal could be the last for the Flight IIA versions of the ship with the Navy heading into transitioning to the Flight III model.
A key difference between the two flights will be replacing the AN/SPY 1 radar with the more powerful Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), Vandroff said. The Navy is expected to initiate the AMDR competition later this year.