US Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer christened

Huntington Ingalls Industries has christened first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) built for the US Navy.

The christening ceremony was held on 26 March at the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division.

DDG 125 is named for Jacklyn “Jack” H. Lucas, the youngest service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II. 

Recently, the firm announced that it has achieved the Aegis light-off milestone on the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. The milestone marked the beginning of combat system testing as the ship was prepared for the propulsion tests and eventually sea trials.

The keel for US Navy’s first Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer built in the Flight III configuration was laid in 2019, while the ship was launched in June 2021.

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.