Christine Thropp
Ingalls Shipbuilding, a Pascagoula, Mississippi-based division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, launched on Friday the future Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), which is the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the U.S. Navy.
HII said Friday DDG 125 will be equipped with Raytheon Technologies-built AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar arrays to provide the ship with ballistic missile defense and target detection and engagement capabilities.
The division is also building the Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Ted Stevens (DDG 128) and Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) destroyers. The Navy has received 32 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers from Ingalls to date.
Developed in support of the U.S. military strategy, the guided missile destroyers are capable of conducting sea control, power projection, crisis management and other operations. They are fitted with offensive and defensive weapon systems for air, surface and subsurface battles to support maritime defense.
Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson attributed the timely launch of the first Flight III destroyer to the division’s shipbuilders and their ship construction teamwork. “We will continue to work closely with our Navy customer as we progress toward delivering the highly advanced ship that our Navy expects and our nation deserves,” he added.
