Navy considering more advanced Burke Class Destroyers

The Large Surface Combatant program has been delayed again. The LCS is suppose to replace the Burke class destroyers and the Ticonderoga class cruisers. So the Navy wants to add some advancing to the existing Burke class destroyers.

The Navy is looking at “something beyond even a Flight III” combat capability for its new-build destroyers, as its plans for transitioning from building the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to the future Large Surface Combatant continue to evolve and the LSC procurement date continues to slide.


Program Executive Officer for Ships Rear Adm. Bill Galinis told USNI News that questions about what the Large Surface Combatant needs to be and significant pressure on the annual shipbuilding budget are forcing the service to think about what the Arleigh Burke program will look like beyond the current multiyear contract for the Flight III configuration.


The Large Surface Combatant program is meant to replace both the Ticonderoga-class cruiser and the DDG-51s, and previous documents from the Pentagon showed LSC acquisition beginning in Fiscal Year 2023, following heel-to-toe behind the end of the current contract for Flight III DDGs that ends in 2022.


However, USNI News first reported in March that LSC acquisition had fallen to a 2025 start date – though the Navy pushed back at the time and said it could accelerate the program to resume that planned 2023 start date if industry were able to support a faster design process.


Galinis told USNI News today that the Navy is now looking at 2026 or possibly later to begin the Large Surface Combatant.


“We’re even considering right now, as we have these conceptual discussions on the Large Surface Combatant, do we need something beyond even a Flight III on the 51s? And again, I tell people, the budget always gets a vote, so you’ve got to think about what the Navy is doing over the next five to 10 years in terms of ship construction: we’ve got frigates coming online, Columbia (ballistic missile submarines) hands down is the top priority, we’re recapitalizing the sealift fleet, we need to continue building Virginias (attack submarines), we just executed a two-carrier buy,” he said during a panel presentation at the American Society of Naval Engineers’ annual Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium.