Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress

The Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyer program is one of the longest-running shipbuilding programs in Navy history. The Navy began procuring DDG-51s, also known as Aegis destroyers, in FY1985, and a total of 97 have been procured through FY2025, including three in FY2025. From FY1989 through FY2005, DDG-51s were procured in annual quantities of two to five ships per year. Since FY2010, they have been procured in annual quantities of one to three ships per year. (The Navy did not procure any DDG-51s in FY2006-FY2009. Instead, the Navy in FY2007-FY2009 procured three Zumwalt [DDG-1000] class destroyers. The Navy plans no further procurement of DDG-1000s.) As part of its FY2023 budget submission, the Navy requested authority for using a multiyear procurement (MYP) contract for DDG-51s scheduled for procurement in FY2023-FY2027. Congress, as part of its action on the Navy’s proposed FY2023 budget, approved this request. Four previous MYP contracts for the DDG-51 program covered DDG-51s procured in FY1998-FY2001, FY2002-FY2005, FY2013-FY2017, and FY2018-FY2022. The first DDG-51 entered service in 1991, and a total of 75 have been delivered as of October 1, 2025. The DDG-51 design has been updated multiple times over the years; the version currently being procured, called the Flight III DDG-51 design, incorporates a new and more capable radar called the SPY-6 radar. DDG-51s currently cost about $2.7 billion each when procured at a rate of two ships per year. The Navy’s proposed FY2026 budget requests the procurement of two more DDG-51s in FY2026, and estimates their combined procurement cost at $5,410.8 million (i.e., about $5.4 billion).