PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) marked the start of fabrication for the future USS Sam Nunn (DDG 133) with a ceremony at HII’s shipyard on Dec 12.
DDG 133 will be a DDG 51 Flight III guided missile destroyer centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and will provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet. The Flight III baseline begins with DDGs 125-126 and continues with DDG 128 and follow on ships.
The ship is named for Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr., a United States Senator who represented Georgia from 1972 to 1997 and served as Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
“The future USS Sam Nunn will provide 21st Century offensive and defensive warfighting capabilities for decades to come,” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships.
In addition to Sam Nunn, HII’s Pascagoula shipyard is also currently in production on future destroyers Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), and George M. Neal (DDG 131).
As one of the Defense Department's largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.