Aegis Combat System
FieldedOther
Integrated combat system; baseline depends on ship and modernization status.
Link Confirmed
Vessel · Sea
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Multi-mission guided-missile destroyer class for the U.S. Navy.
by General Dynamics · First fielded 1991
FieldedVesselSeaMilestoneJun 11, 2025
navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/destroyers-ddg-51- Milestones2
- Operators—
- Components3
- Programs—
- Capabilities—
- Inputs—
Milestones19912025
U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer class. Built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and HII Ingalls Shipbuilding.
Timeline2
- FieldedConfirmed
USS Arleigh Burke commissioned
- MilestoneConfirmed
GAO assessment: Flight III destroyer construction delays
GAO’s June 2025 assessment reports delivery delays of 8–41 months against contract dates for the first 13 follow-on Flight III ships. Its cost graphic covers 29 Flight III ships bought or planned in fiscal years 2017–2029, not the entire Arleigh Burke class. GAO describes the AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar and Aegis upgrades and identifies shipyard workforce constraints. Testing completion in 2027 was a plan at the time of the assessment.
The latest 10 milestones. Solid entries are confirmed, outlined reported, dashed estimated or still to come; dotted italic entries are speculative. Dates show only the precision the sources give.
In Service
- First fielded
- 1991
Cost to the Government
Ships · General Dynamics Bath Iron Works / HII Ingalls
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
A large destroyer fleet spanning multiple flights; new Flight III procurement cannot be treated as the historical price of every ship.
FY2026 procurement / ship
$2.705B
FY2026 budget request · Then-year USD
Derived from $5.4108B requested for two ships; budget estimate, not a contract unit price.
CRS ↗Procured through FY2025
97
FY2025 · U.S. only
Cumulative procurement count includes boats not yet in service.
CRS ↗Development program total
Not verified
A separately scoped historical development total has not been verified.
Cost & funding breakdown
Flight I / II historical procurement
28
FY1985–FY1993; CRS FY2026 · U.S. only
DDG-51 through DDG-78; historical purchases, not surviving inventory.
CRS ↗Flight IIA historical procurement
47
FY1994–FY2016; CRS FY2026 · U.S. only
DDG-79 through DDG-124 plus DDG-127. Hull numbering alone does not identify every Flight III ship.
CRS ↗Flight III current procurement reference
$2.705B
FY2026 budget request · Then-year USD
New-build procurement scope from the cited budget; does not establish the original cost of Flight I, II or IIA ships.
CRS ↗Scope varies by flight
Annual costs cover the class mix in the GAO study. New-build FY2026 procurement and the historical operating fleet are different populations.
Flight III changes the construction scope
Flight IIA added a helicopter hangar. Flight III introduces SPY-6 radar and associated electrical and cooling changes. DDG-127 remains Flight IIA despite its number; the class’s historical annual operating average is not a Flight III-specific ownership estimate.
Operations & sustainment
Annual O&S / ship
$80.5M / yr
FY2020 · Constant FY2021 USD
GAO reported average for this class; this is a historical annual cost, not a current operating budget.
GAO ↗Annual maintenance / ship
$24.7M / yr
FY2020 · Constant FY2021 USD
Maintenance is included in O&S above; do not add the two.
GAO ↗Cost over time · 2 observations
Each row retains its original scope and dollar basis. Changing quantities, service life and inflation can change the estimate without changing the price of building one unit.
| Observation | Measure | Amount | Dollar basis | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | Annual O&S / ship GAO reported average for this class; this is a historical annual cost, not a current operating budget. | $80.5M / yr | Constant FY2021 USD | GAO ↗ |
| FY2026 budget request | FY2026 procurement / ship Derived from $5.4108B requested for two ships; budget estimate, not a contract unit price. | $2.705B | Then-year USD | CRS ↗ |
Contracts & purchasing · 1 records
Award values, ceilings and purchase agreements have different meanings. These records are not added together as total spending.
2023-08-01 · FY2023–FY2027 multiyear awards
U.S. Navy → HII Ingalls / General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
Value not verified · 9 units in scope
Navy announcement documents nine ships plus options. A combined award value is not verified here.
U.S. Navy ↗
Connected missiles & systems
V1 radar and Flight III destroyer
AN/SPY-6 Radar Family →V1 system cost is separate from the complete destroyer and other radar variants.
U.S. Navy / DoD ↗
International buyers
No international purchase documented in this review.
Coverage & open research
- Separately scoped historical R&D total remains unverified; missing is not zero.
- Quantity and cost figures retain their source dates. Historical snapshots are not a census of operational availability on the review date.
- No international purchase record verified in this profile; this is not proof that no foreign operators exist.
- Total acquisition costConfirmed$167.14BThen-year $ · 107 units
SCN shipbuilding only, P-40 DDG-51 'Total' column: 107 ships through to-complete, $167,138.579M gross weapon system cost (then-year); excludes RDT&E and outfitting/post-delivery ($5,556.560M).
Source - Unit cost (per unit)Reported$2.70BEstimate / observation: 2025-01 · 23 units
CBO analysis of the Navy's FY2025 30-year shipbuilding plan (Jan 2025): the 23 Flight III DDG-51s in the plan average $2.7B each (CBO estimate); Navy's own estimate rose from $2.1B to $2.5B per ship. Reported by TWZ.
Source
Earlier cost observations (4)
- Arleigh Burke-class destroyer · Unit cost (per unit) · $962MEstimate / observation: 2000 · Then-year $ · 58 units
DOT&E FY2000 Annual Report program data: DDG-51 with AN/SPY-1D, 58 systems, average unit cost (TY$) $962.2M; total program cost $55,807.6M. Mirrored by GlobalSecurity.org.
Source - Arleigh Burke-class destroyer · Total acquisition cost · $56.52BEstimate / observation: 1997 · Then-year $ · 57 units
DOT&E FY1997 Annual Report: DDG-51 total program cost (TY$) $56,515.8M for 57 ships.
Source - Arleigh Burke-class destroyer · Unit cost (per unit) · $947MEstimate / observation: 1997 · Then-year $ · 57 units
DOT&E FY1997 Annual Report program data: DDG-51 with AN/SPY-1D, 57 systems, average unit cost (TY$) $946.5M; total program cost $56,515.8M. Mirrored by GlobalSecurity.org.
Source - Arleigh Burke-class destroyer · Unit cost (per unit) · $4.26BThen-year $ · 1 unit
Gross/weapon-system (end) cost per ship, FY 2027 request, SCN P-40 DDG-51 (line 2122): $4,256.914M for 1 Flight III ship. CRS RL32109 (Dec 2025) says DDG-51s cost about $2.7 billion each at two ships per year.
Source
| Fiscal year | Appropriation | Request | Enacted | Qty | Budget line | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2027 | RDT&E | $7.7M | — | — | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2027 | Procurement | $3.58B | — | 1 | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2027 | Total | $3.59B | — | 1 | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2026 | RDT&E | $185M | $25.2M | — | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2026 | Procurement | $5.75B | $7.51B | 2 | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2026 | Total | $5.94B | $7.53B | 2 | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2025 | RDT&E | — | $227M | — | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2025 | Procurement | — | $8.41B | 3 | — | SourceConfirmed |
| FY2025 | Total | — | $8.63B | 3 | — | SourceConfirmed |
Unit costs and contract unit prices for this system, and budget figures for the programs that buy it. Each figure states its dollar basis and links its source; contract values are under Programs & awards.
Built With3
LM2500
FieldedEngineFour turbines; engine entity is owned by the aircraft research batch.
Link Confirmed