The US Navy has completed testing of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer John Basilone in Flight IIA configuration with a launcher for Tomahawk missiles

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer John Basilone (DDG-122) has completed trials in the Atlantic Ocean. The US Air Force ship has returned to the shipyard in Maine.

Acceptance tests ensured that the hull and the Arleigh Burke-class ship's electrical and mechanical systems were operating correctly. The destroyer is named in honour of a Marine Corps sergeant who died in 1945.

John Basilone (DDG-122) is the 72nd ship of the Arleigh Burke class. It is of the Flight IIA configuration, which calls for the AN/SPY-1D(v) radar. The Flight III line brings the more modern AN/SPY-6 station.

The destroyer has a displacement of 9,500 tonnes, is 155.3 metres long, 20 metres wide and is capable of speeds up to 30 knots (55 km/h). It has a cruising range of more than 8,100 kilometres.

The John Basilone (DDG-122) is fitted with Mk 41 launchers on board. They can use anti-aircraft missiles of the Standard family, ASROC anti-ship missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The Bath Iron Works shipyard continues production of six more ships of this class. Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG-124) and Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127) belong to the Flight IIA line, while Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG-126), William Charette (DDG-130), Quentin Walsh (DDG-132) and John E. Kilmer (DDG-134) represent the Flight III configuration.

Source: USNI News