Bath Iron Works starts building new Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyer USS J. William Middendorf.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works has started construction of the future USS J. William Middendorf (DDG 138), a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that will strengthen the U.S. Navy’s missile-defense and escort capacity during sustained operations in the Red Sea, Eastern Mediterranean, and Indo-Pacific. The ceremonial first steel cut took place in Maine on May 19, 2026, as the Navy continues relying on Flight III destroyers equipped with the SPY-6 radar and Aegis Baseline 10 combat system to replace the air-defense and command role of retiring Ticonderoga-class cruisers ahead of the future DDG(X) program.

The new destroyer will carry 96 Mk 41 vertical launch cells and the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar, giving it the ability to track and engage ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, UAVs, and aircraft simultaneously during high-intensity naval operations. Its construction also highlights the Navy’s continued dependence on the Arleigh Burke design as both a frontline combat platform and the industrial backbone of the U.S. surface fleet while future warfare requirements push the class close to its growth limits in power, cooling, and weapon integration.

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USS J. William Middendorf belongs to the Flight III configuration that began with USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the first Flight III destroyer commissioned in October 2023. (Picture source: US Navy)

On May 19, 2026, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works began the building of the future USS J. William Middendorf (DDG 138), a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer that will enter the U.S. Navy fleet during a period of sustained operational demand for ballistic missile defense and escort operations in the Red Sea, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific. The ceremony took place at the company’s Structural Fabrication Facility in Bath, Maine, where Frances Middendorf, daughter of former Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf II, activated the cutting machine for the ceremonial first steel cut.

The USS J. William Middendorf is the 88th Arleigh Burke destroyer, the sixth Flight III ship entering construction at Bath Iron Works, and the 47th unit assigned to the Maine yard since Arleigh Burke-class production began in 1988. The ship enters construction as the Navy continues relying on Flight III destroyers equipped with the SPY-6 radar and Aegis Baseline 10 combat system to replace the air defense and command functions of retiring Ticonderoga-class cruisers ahead of DDG(X) procurement during the 2030s. The destroyer is named after J. William Middendorf II, who served as Secretary of the Navy from April 8, 1974, until January 20, 1977, after previously serving as Under Secretary of the Navy.

His tenure coincided with post-Vietnam budget reductions, Soviet naval expansion under Admiral Sergey Gorshkov, and debates over fleet modernization priorities. Middendorf supported the continuation of the Aegis combat system program while the project still faced resistance over cost and technical complexity. He also supported the procurement of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine and the Trident missile program, both of which became central components of the U.S. nuclear deterrent structure during the late Cold War, as well as congressional funding efforts tied to the early F/A-18 program, which later became one of the Navy’s principal carrier-based strike aircraft, and the expansion of high-end surface combatants and carrier aviation despite wider defense budget pressure.

Middendorf later served as Ambassador to the Netherlands, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, and Ambassador to the European Communities before dying on October 24, 2025, at the age of 101. USS J. William Middendorf belongs to the Flight III configuration introduced with USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), commissioned in October 2023 as the first operational Flight III destroyer. The Flight III program emerged after the cancellation of the CG(X) cruiser and reduction of the Zumwalt-class destroyer program from 32 planned hulls to three ships. The U.S. Navy restarted Arleigh Burke procurement in 2009 after determining that the Zumwalt design lacked the radar capacity and ballistic missile defense optimization required for integrated air and missile defense operations.

As of January 2025, the Arleigh Burke fleet included 75 active destroyers, 13 ships on order, and 10 under construction, with earlier planning projecting up to 24 Flight III ships between FY2016 and FY2031, with ships such as the USS Robert R. Ingram. Current procurement costs for Flight III destroyers are estimated at roughly $2.2 billion per hull in FY2024 dollars before sustainment and modernization expenditures extending over 35 to 40 years of service. Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding remain the only U.S. shipyards capable of serial production of large guided-missile surface combatants.

The Maine yard became heavily dependent on Arleigh Burke-class procurement after cancellation of projected cruiser follow-on programs, making continued Flight III production critical for sustaining the workforce, supplier network, and industrial infrastructure tied to propulsion systems, radar manufacturing, missile launch integration, combat systems, electrical distribution equipment, and steel fabrication. The USS J. William Middendorf (DDG 138) enters production amid continuing workforce shortages, construction delays, and maintenance backlogs affecting U.S. naval shipbuilding and fleet readiness.

Because no replacement production line exists before the DDG(X) enters serial construction, any reduction in Burke procurement would immediately affect industrial continuity at both Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding. Flight III destroyers replace the AN/SPY-1D radar carried by earlier Burke variants with the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar developed by Raytheon. The SPY-6(V)1 configuration uses 37 Radar Module Assemblies with active electronically scanned array technology and digital beamforming, improving simultaneous tracking and discrimination of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft, and UAVs.

Integration of the radar required redesign of the destroyer’s electrical architecture, with earlier Flight IIA ships using three AG9140 generators producing 3 MW each at 450 volts, while Flight III ships employ three AG9160 generators producing 4 MW each at 4,160 volts. Cooling infrastructure was also expanded to absorb the thermal load generated by SPY-6 and future electronic systems. Flight III destroyers additionally incorporate Aegis Baseline 10 architecture for simultaneous ballistic missile defense and anti-air warfare engagements with improved sensor fusion and fire control coordination. 

USS J. William Middendorf retains the standard Flight III arrangement of 96 Mk 41 Vertical Launch System cells divided into 32 forward and 64 aft cells. The launch system supports SM-2, SM-3, SM-6, ESSM, Tomahawk, and VL-ASROC missiles for ballistic missile defense, air defense, land attack, anti-submarine warfare, and maritime strike missions. Operational demand for this mission set increased sharply following Houthi anti-ship missile and UAV attacks in the Red Sea beginning in late 2023, forcing repeated live intercept operations by deployed Arleigh Burke destroyers.

USS Carney, USS Thomas Hudner, and USS Gravely conducted engagements against cruise missiles, drones, and ballistic missiles during 2023 and 2024, while USS Gravely used its Phalanx CIWS in January 2024 to destroy a Houthis' anti-ship cruise missile after it entered the destroyer’s terminal defense envelope. USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney also conducted the first operational SM-3 intercepts against Iranian ballistic missiles during the April 13, 2024, attack against Israel. Flight III capability growth is being integrated onto a hull originally designed during the late 1970s and early 1980s, reducing future modernization margins in weight, electrical power, and internal volume.

Full-load displacement increased from roughly 8,300 tons on early Flight I destroyers to nearly 9,700 tons on Flight III variants because of larger radar arrays, upgraded generators, cooling infrastructure, and combat-system additions. Integration of future hypersonic weapons remains problematic because projected missile dimensions exceed available Mk 41 launch-cell capacity and internal hull volume. Vice Admiral Brendan McLane stated in 2025 that the Flight III configuration was effectively “maxed out” regarding accommodation of additional major systems.

Despite those limits, the class continues receiving counter-UAV and directed-energy capabilities through systems such as ODIN and HELIOS while the Navy continues parallel development of the larger DDG(X) surface combatant. The start of fabrication for USS J. William Middendorf reflects continued Navy preference for incremental modernization of the Arleigh Burke design rather than accelerated transition toward a new surface-combatant architecture. This approach reduces development risk and preserves industrial continuity but extends dependence on a destroyer hull designed before current ballistic missile defense requirements emerged.

Flight III destroyers are expected to assume the air-defense coordination and command functions previously performed by retiring Ticonderoga-class cruisers while supporting Indo-Pacific deployments, ballistic missile defense patrols, Red Sea escort operations, and distributed maritime operations. Under current operational conditions, the DDG-51 program functions as both the Navy’s principal deployable missile-defense asset and the industrial foundation of the U.S. surface combatant sector through at least the late 2030s.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.