The U.S. Navy in concert with Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon Missiles & Defense recently achieved Aegis Light Off (ALO) on the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.
This milestone marks the beginning of the ship’s combat systems test program that will culminate in readiness for Builder’s Trials, Acceptance Trials and eventual delivery to the fleet.
“Achieving ALO is a significant accomplishment as construction, activation, and test of the Flight III upgrade continues,” said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “DDG 125 is bringing game changing technology to the fleet and beginning to integrate and test critical components is key to ensuring successful demonstration of the ship’s systems.”
The Flight III upgrade is centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and incorporates upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet.
The ALO milestone also highlights the significant risk reduction efforts the Navy has implemented for Flight III, including land based testing of the electric plant, combat system software, and radar.
HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division is also under construction on the future Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), 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, and boats and craft.