The keel has been laid on another new U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS John E. Kilmer.
The warship, which is set to become the ninth Flight III U.S. Navy destroyer, is the third of the latest variants being constructed at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (GDBIW) in Maine.
Her keel-laying was conducted at a special ceremony at the GDBIW shipyard earlier this month. She is named after a Korean War hero, a Navy hospital corpsman who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for treating injured Marines under fire at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The Flight III destroyers are about 155m long with a displacement of almost 9,500 tons, a crew of about 380 and a top speed of around 31 knots.
They have a total of 96 missile cells featuring the Mk41 vertical launching system and boast a range of surface-to-air, anti-ballistic, surface-attack and anti-submarine missiles. They also boast a five-inch gun turret and two Mk 32 triple-barrel torpedo mounts.
GDBIW has six other Flight III Arleigh-Burke-class warships under construction. Furthest advanced is the future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr., which was launched October 2025 and is expected to be commissioned in 2028.
The other Flight III destroyers being built at the yard are William Charette, Quentin Walsh, and Richard G. Lugar, with J. William Middendorf approved for construction and Thomas G. Kelley also authorised.
- You can read more details on the GDBIW website
