"The DDG 51 program
has been the backbone of Ingalls Shipbuilding for the past three decades,"
said DDG 51 Program Manager George Nungesser. "We now have a
hot production line in the shipyard where we can maintain our highly
skilled shipbuilding crews in the same working areas for each ship.
This will allow increased learning and provide the most efficient
way to reduce cost and schedule while building quality ships for the
United States Navy. We have a lot of experience and talent throughout
our program, and with the facilities to build ships simultaneously,
we will continue to improve as each ship is launched."
The five-ship contract, part of a multi-year procurement in the DDG
51 program, allows Ingalls to build ships more efficiently by buying
bulk material and moving the skilled workforce from ship to ship.
With the contract, Ingalls will be building DDGs over the next decade.
Ingalls has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy.
Destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls are John Finn (DDG
113), Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) and Delbert
D. Black (DDG 119).
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships
that can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence
and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in
support of the United States' military strategy. DDGs are capable
of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface threats. The
ship contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed
to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.
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