US Navy awards contract for Arleigh Burke destroyer construction

The U.S. Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a $618 million contract modification to fund construction of the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyer DDG 123.

The ship is the fourth of five destroyers the company was contracted to build in June 2013. Ingalls was previously awarded $55 million in advance procurement for DDG 123, making the full contract $673 million.

George Nungesser, Ingalls’ DDG 51 program manager, said: “This will be the 34th Arleigh Burke destroyer built at Ingalls, and we thrive on this experience. Maintaining the same shipbuilding teams from ship to ship is paying dividends to our learning curve.”

Ingalls said that the five-ship contract, part of a multi-year procurement in the DDG 51 program, allowed it to build ships more efficiently as it was able to buy bulk material and move the skilled workforce from ship to ship.

The company has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. Destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls are John Finn (DDG 113), Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) and Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG 121).