U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer Flight III USS Ted Stevens Completes Sea Trials.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) confirmed on September 27, 2025, that the future U.S. Navy USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the Flight III class, completed builder’s sea trials in the Gulf of America.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on September 27, 2025, that the future U.S. Navy USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128) successfully completed builder’s sea trials in the Gulf of America. Built at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the destroyer is the second Flight III Arleigh Burke-class variant produced at the yard. This milestone is significant because it enhances U.S. naval readiness and marks the ship’s progress toward final delivery and active fleet service.
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Future U.S. Navy USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Flight III underway in the Gulf of America after successfully completing builder’s sea trials. (Picture source: HII)

Builder’s sea trials validated the ship’s engineering systems, navigation performance, and combat readiness under operational conditions. Systems tested included propulsion and auxiliary machinery, electrical power generation, steering systems, and onboard command and control functions. A key focus of the trials was the performance of the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), a key capability that defines the Flight III configuration and allows destroyers like DDG 128 to detect and engage more sophisticated and numerous air and missile threats at greater ranges.

USS Ted Stevens is equipped with the latest iteration of the Aegis Combat System, Baseline 10, which enables full integration with the SPY-6 radar and provides enhanced situational awareness, faster processing speeds, and greater lethality in multi-domain engagements. With these systems, DDG 128 significantly extends the U.S. Navy’s ability to defend carrier strike groups, amphibious forces, and high-value assets against the full spectrum of modern threats, including ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles.

Armed with 96 Mk 41 vertical launch system (VLS) cells, the destroyer is capable of deploying a wide array of munitions including SM-2, SM-3, SM-6, Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles. The ship is also outfitted with the Mk 45 Mod 4 5-inch naval gun, Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS for close-in defense, dual torpedo launchers with Mk 54 lightweight torpedoes, and the SQQ-89(V)15 undersea warfare system supported by hull-mounted and towed sonar arrays.

The Flight III design reflects substantial upgrades over previous Arleigh Burke variants, including increased power generation and advanced cooling systems to support high-energy sensors and future technologies such as directed energy weapons. These upgrades position DDG 128 to meet the operational demands of distributed maritime operations (DMO), with full interoperability across joint and allied forces enabled by Link-16, Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC), and other advanced networked warfare systems.

Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers represent the next generation of surface combatants for the U.S. Navy and incorporate a series of design modifications that collectively deliver significantly enhanced warfighting capability. This includes expanded radar performance, greater software capacity, and improved survivability features. Together, these systems ensure the class remains at the forefront of maritime combat operations into the 21st century.

Ingalls Shipbuilding has delivered 35 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the U.S. Navy, including the first Flight III vessel, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), which was delivered in June 2023. Five additional Flight III destroyers are currently under construction at Ingalls: Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131), Sam Nunn (DDG 133), and Thad Cochran (DDG 135). This production tempo reflects the increasing demand for high-end surface combatants in response to global naval threats.

Earlier this month, HII announced a major expansion initiative aimed at boosting throughput across the DDG 51 program. The company confirmed new partnerships with shipyards and fabricators in multiple U.S. states to support the accelerated build schedule. As part of this strategy, Ingalls Shipbuilding will outsource the construction and inspection of outfitted structural units for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to partner sites, which will then deliver the completed units to Pascagoula for final integration.

As the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi, Ingalls Shipbuilding has been designing, building, and sustaining surface combatants and amphibious warships for the U.S. Navy for over 86 years. With its role as the lead Flight III shipbuilder, Ingalls remains central to the U.S. Navy’s effort to field a technologically dominant surface fleet capable of prevailing in future high-threat maritime environments.

U.S. Navy USS Ted Stevens will next undergo acceptance trials conducted by the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) later this year. Commissioning is expected in mid-2026, after which the ship will join the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet as a front-line asset in deterrence, power projection, and integrated missile defense.