The Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121)
Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided-missile destroyer on November 30 from shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII].
HII built the vessel at its Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss.
Delivery came over two months after the Navy completed acceptance trials, when the Board of Inspection and Survey inspected the ship while performing a set of demonstrations to validate performance of various systems (Defense Daily, Sept. 17).
The Navy noted DDG-121 is equipped with the Aegis Baseline 9C2 combat system with integrated air and missile defense capabilities and enhanced ballistic missile defense capabilities.
“DDG 121 brings critical readiness to the fleet to ensure our Sailors are postured for success today and in the future. The ship will honor the legacy of its namesake and provide the needed capability and capacity to the fleet,” Capt. Seth Miller, DDG-51 class program manager at Program Executive Office Ships, said in a statement.
DDG-121 is named after the Marine Corps’ first African American aviator and general officer who flew more than 350 combat missions during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
HII Ingalls is currently building four more destroyers: the Flight IIA future Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) as well as the Flight III Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), Ted Stevens (DDG-128) and Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129). DDG-125 will be the first Fight III vessel, which features improved missile defense radar capabilities.