According to information published by the U.S. DoD on January 10, 2022, the U.S. Navy in concert with Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon Missiles & Defense recently achieved Aegis Light Off (ALO) on the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.
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Arleigh Burke-class USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) and USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (Picture source: WarshipPorn)
This milestone marks the beginning of the ship’s combat systems test program that will culminate in readiness for Builder’s Trials, Acceptance Trials, and eventual delivery to the fleet.
The Flight III upgrade is centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and incorporates upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet.
The ALO milestone also highlights the significant risk reduction efforts the Navy has implemented for Flight III, including land-based testing of the electric plant, combat system software, and radar.
HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is also under construction on the future Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), and George M. Neal (DDG 131).
USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) will be an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, first of the Flight III variants and 75th overall in the class.
The Arleigh Burke-class were designed as multi-mission destroyers, able to fulfill the strategic land strike role with Tomahawk missiles; anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) role with powerful Aegis radar and surface-to-air missiles; anti-submarine warfare (ASW) with towed sonar array, anti-submarine rockets, and ASW helicopter; and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) with Harpoon missile launcher.
