US Navy welcomes future USS Daniel Inouye

The US Navy has taken delivery of its new Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), from shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (GD BIW) on 8 March 2021.

Prior to delivery, the ship successfully conducted a series of at-sea and pier-side trials to demonstrate its material and operational readiness. 

The future USS Daniel Inouye is named in honor of Daniel Inouye, who served as a United States Senator for Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. He received the Medal of Honor June 21, 2000 for his extraordinary heroism in action while serving with the 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team in Italy during World War II.

“This highly capable platform will deliver the necessary combat power and proven capacity as the ship joins the … navy,” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships.

DDG 118 is a Flight IIA destroyer equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, which provides improved integrated air and missile defense capabilities, increased computing power, and radar upgrades that improve detection range and reaction time against modern air warfare and ballistic missile defense threats.

BIW is also in production on the future Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), John Basilone (DDG 122), Harvey C. Barnum (DDG 124), Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127), and Flight III ships, Louis H. Wilson, Jr. (DDG 126), and William Charette (DDG 130), as well as the future Zumwalt-class destroyer, Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002).