Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas begins sea trials.

According to information published by the US DoD on December 20, 2022, the Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) completed Builder’s Trials.
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Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas. (Picture source: HII)

Builder’s trials consist of a series of in-port and at-sea demonstrations that allow the shipbuilder to assess the ship’s systems. For DDG 125, these trials also mark the first opportunity to test the new Flight III systems while underway. The trials are conducted by the shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The future USS Jack H. Lucas will be the 75th Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class destroyer, and the first of the DDG 51 Flight III ships. The Flight III upgrade is centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and incorporates upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity. Flight III is the fourth Flight upgrade in the proud history of the class, and the largest upgrade to date.

The DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG 51) is a multi-mission guided missile destroyer able to operate offensively and defensively, independently, or as units of Carrier Strike Groups, Expeditionary Strike Groups, and Surface Action Groups.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas has a displacement of 9,496 long tons (full load), a length of 509.5 ft (155.3 m), and a beam of 66 ft (20 m).

The Flight III destroyer can reach a maximum speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) and can carry a complement of 380 sailors.

These ships respond to the full range of military operations including Low Intensity Conflict/Coastal and Littoral Offshore Warfare scenarios and open ocean conflict, providing or augmenting power projection. Flight III ships will fill the critical need for enhanced surface combatant Integrated Air and Missile Defense.

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is also under construction on the future Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131) and Sam Nunn (DDG 133).