HII to Design U.S. Navy's Next-Gen Destroyer, DDG(X) Equipped with Hypersonic Missiles, Lasers

Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has won a contract for engineering and design from the U.S. Navy for the next-generation guided-missile destroyer (DDG(X)) program.

Ingalls Shipbuilding is a major contractor and shipbuilding partner in the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) program that has been in production for three decades. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are multi-mission ships that can provide offensive and defensive capabilities, and can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States military strategy.

DDG(X) next generation large surface combatant will be the largest the Navy’s attempted in more than 20 years. It is designed to provide the service with the power to drive a new generation of directed energy weapons and high-power sensors that will follow the Navy’s current fleet of Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. The warship is estimated to start construction in about six years.

The vessel will use a combat system developed from the Flight III Arleigh Burkes that incorporated the new SPY-6 air search radar and the Baseline 10 Aegis combat system.

The ship will be fitted with an Integrated Power System similar to the found on the Zumwalt class of guided missile destroyers. Zumwalt-class DDG’s gas turbines drive a ship-wide electrical grid that generates more than 75 megawatts of power – enough to light a small town. The technology will be key for the DDG(X) to generate the power for directed energy and new sensors. It could power up to 600-kilowatt lasers that would be powerful enough to shoot down hostile missiles.

Initially, the ship would feature a 32-cell Mk-41 VLS forward of the superstructure that could be swapped for 12 larger missile cells capable of fielding the Pentagon’s emerging hypersonic weapons.

The ship's SPY-6 air search radar could expand from a 14-foot aperture to an 18-foot aperture that would increase the sensitivity of the sensor. The U.S. Navy is also planning for a modular payload space for different future missions.

The Navy is also calling for a ship that can travel 50% farther and spend 120% longer time on station. The plan also calls for a 25% reduction in fuel usage compared to the DDG-51 and reduced requirement for the Navy combat logistics fleet. DDG(X) aims to have improved seakeeping and improved Arctic operations. Arleigh Burke destroyers were designed to operate primarily in the tropics.