“With increasingly digital Aegis, combat system upgrades are getting easier and less expensive.” “The original 35-year life of the (Arleigh Burke) class was based on an expectation that they would become obsolete before they got too old to maintain,” he said. While extending the service lives of these destroyers partly reflects concerns about maintaining the size of the fleet, it also takes other factors into consideration, according to Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and and director of the Hudson Institute think tank’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.įor one, upgrades are getting easier, and the Navy already keeps amphibious assault ships, aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines in service for 45 years or more, Clark said in an email.

The Navy has 73 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in service and is continuing to evaluate the feasibility of extending each ship’s service life. “Based on analysis by the Navy’s technical community, these extensions were feasible because each ship properly adhered to lifecycle maintenance plans and were well maintained in good material condition by their crews,” the Navy said in a release announcing the life extensions. Fred Pyle, head of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations’ Surface Warfare Division, in a statement.Įach of the four ships has received Baseline 9 upgrades to its Aegis combat system via the destroyer modernization program, which provides comprehensive midlife upgrades to the ships. Navy by the American people,” said Rear Adm. “These extensions align to Secretary of the Navy commitment to Congress during the FY-24 posture hearings to analyze service life on a hull-by-hull basis and extend the correct ships in order to be good stewards of resources invested in the U.S. While the Navy scrapped a plan in 2020 to extend the service lives of every destroyer in the fleet, the sea service is now analyzing each ship in the class to determine whether extending its life makes sense. It reflects the sea service’s desire to maintain fleet size and capability in a time of intense competition for defense dollars, while showing Congress that the service can spend judiciously. Navy will extend service life of destroyer Arleigh Burke The move follows a similar service life extension announced in March for Arleigh Burke, the first destroyer in the class.

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