US Navy orders nine Arleigh Burke Flight III class destroyers - cost of ships could reach $20bn

The US Navy has announced the purchase of nine destroyers. The construction of Arleigh Burke-class ships will be carried out by Ingalls Shipbuilding and Bath Iron Works.

Here's What We Know

Ingalls Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of HII, will build six Arleigh Burke Flight III destroyers. The US Department of Defence has allocated funds to build one ship in each of the six fiscal years up to FY2027.

Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, will build three Arleigh Burke Flight III-class warships for the U.S. Navy. The Pentagon has allocated funds for FY2023, FY2024 and FY2026.

In a press release, the US Department of Defence said that the dollar value of the destroyers associated with the multi-year contracts is considered confidential information. Therefore, the Pentagon is not yet disclosing the amount of funds awarded.

Under a previous multi-year agreement that affected FY2018-2022, the US Navy awarded $3.9bn to Bath Iron Works, while Ingalls Shipbuilding received $5.1bn to build four and six ships respectively. Since then, the cost of destroyers has increased. In the draft FY2024 budget, the US Navy plans to spend $7.87bn on three ships in FY2023 and $4.3-4.7bn on two ships over the remainder of the contract period.

Source: Pentagon