HII Laid Keel of 1st Flight III Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer

DDG 125 will be the first Arleigh Burke class destroyer built in the Flight III configuration with improved capability and capacity to perform Anti-Air Warfare and Ballistic Missile Defense in support of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense mission.

The Flight III design contains modifications from the earlier DDG 51 class, to enable the SPY-6 radar, in association with Aegis Baseline 10, which includes larger electronically scanned arrays and the power generation and cooling equipment required to operate the powerful new radar.

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (Nov. 7, 2019) Ingalls Shipbuilding welder James Ellis welds Ship Sponsors Ruby Lucas and Catherine B. Reynolds’ initials into a steel plate during a keel authentication ceremony for the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) at Huntington Ingalls Industries Pascagoula shipyard Nov. 7, 2019. DDG 125 is the first ship to be named for Jack H. Lucas. During World War II, Lucas, then a private first class in the Marine Corps, received the Medal of Honor at age 17 for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Iwo Jima. **(Photo by Samantha Crane)**

Ruby Lucas and Catherine B. Reynolds, ship sponsors, authenticated the keel by etching their initials into the keel plate. Although the official start of fabrication began in May 2018, authenticating the ship’s keel symbolically recognizes the joining of modular components and represents the ceremonial beginning of the ship.

These multi-mission surface combatants serve as integral assets in global maritime security, engaging in air, undersea, surface, strike and ballistic missile defense, as well as providing increased capabilities in anti-submarine warfare, command and control, and anti-surface warfare.

HII’s Pascagoula shipyard is also currently in production on the guided missile destroyers Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), and Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), amphibious assault ships Tripoli (LHA 7) and Bougainville (LHA 8), and amphibious transport dock ships Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) and Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29).