HII said the destroyer represents the next generation of surface combatants for the U.S. Navy. The ship is equipped with the Flight III AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar system and the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system, designed to address evolving threats into the 21st century.
“The sail-away of Ted Stevens reflects the strong momentum of our Flight III destroyer deliveries and the team’s work to deliver the most capable and combat ready ships to the fleet,” said Chris Brown, Ingalls Shipbuilding DDG 51 program manager. “Seeing DDG 128 depart Ingalls is a proud moment for us all, and we are honored to support the Navy with a ship that will strengthen U.S. maritime security for decades to come.”
Ingalls Shipbuilding currently has five additional Flight III destroyers under construction and seven more in early pre-planning and material procurement stages. The company said it is expanding production capacity through a distributed shipbuilding initiative involving shipyards and fabricators outside its traditional labor market.
According to HII, the initiative is intended to improve schedule performance across shipbuilding programs and increase throughput to meet growing demand from the U.S. Navy. In 2026, the company plans to outsource more than 2.5 million hours of shipbuilding work while expanding its network of structural assembly partner companies.
HII said the expanded network will allow more shipbuilding work to be completed outside the shipyard before final assembly. Ingalls Shipbuilding has delivered 36 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to date, including the first Flight III destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), and Ted Stevens (DDG 128).
