The U.S. Navy recently achieved several important milestones for the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer Flight III upgrade, representing significant progress toward delivering critical Integrated Air and Missile Defense capability to the fleet.

The U.S. Navy commissioned Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) 26 September 2020 during a private ceremony at Port Canaveral, Florida.

Raytheon Missiles & Defense delivered the first AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar array for installation on the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the U.S. Navy's first Flight III guided-missile destroyer.

The US Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a $936 million contract for construction of the future USS Thad Cochrane (DDG 135). This will be the 10th Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the 85th DDG 51 ship overall. It will be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula and is planned to be delivered in 2027.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division achieved a substantial milestone with the successful lift of the aft deckhouse onto guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125).

The future USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) successfully completed acceptance trials on March 12, returning to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), Ingalls Shipbuilding Division after spending two days at sea in the Gulf of Mexico.

Construction of the US Navy's future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126) officially began at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard on Mar. 3, the Navy Team Ships Public Affairs stated. The milestone was marked by a ceremony at BIW’s structural fabrication facility in Brunswick, Maine.

Raytheon will build two additional shipsets of SPY-6 radars under a $250 million contract with the U.S. Navy. The company is now contracted to deliver a total of nine radar shipsets to DDG-51 Flight III destroyers.

The U.S. Navy christened the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), on June 22 at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine. DDG 118 is the third (of nine) Arleigh Burke-class, "Flight IIA: Technology Insertion" variant. "Technology Insertion" ships are fitted with elements from the future DDG 51 Flight III.

Raytheon has been awarded a $402 million contract for AN/SPY-6(V) radars low-rate initial production (LRIP) for the US Navy’s DDG 51 Flight III-class ship program, the US company said on March 14.