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The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers are built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The first ship was commissioned on 4 July 1991.

The Arleigh Burke class are among the largest destroyers ever built (larger is the Ticonderoga class cruiser, which is a redesignated AAW destroyer), and certainly among the most powerful. According to Bath Iron Works promotional material, Arleigh Burke is ton for ton the most powerful warship ever built.

The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous destroyer officer of World War II. Admiral Burke was alive when the class leader was commissioned, and his words to the plank crew echo in the class's distinguished service to date: "This ship is built to fight; you'd better know how."

One Arleigh Burke class ship has been damaged by enemy action: USS Cole (DDG-67) was damaged by a powerful improvised explosive device delivered by a suicide boat in October of 2000.

The greatly improved "Flight IIA Arleigh Burke" class ship, a major alteration of the class which significantly changed the ship's layout including the addition of two helicopter hangars for improved ASWAnti-submarine warfare is a term referring to warfare directed against submarines. This involves the use of submarines, aircraft, and surface ships (commonly destroyers), to locate, track, and then either damage or destroy submarines, port facilities, pro fighting capability, began with USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79)The USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79 is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer in the United States Navy.. The Flight IIA Burke also received improved surface fighting and shore bombardment capability with the introduction of the longer 5"/62 caliber gun on USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)The USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer of the United States Navy homeported in NS Norfolk, Virginia. Winston S. Churchill sets the final physical pattern for all subsequent Flight IIA ships by mounting the. Some sources have argued that the Flight IIA ship is different enough from the Flight I/II ship that it should be renamed the Oscar Austin class destroyer.

1 General Characteristics

• Builders: General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works Division and Northrop Grumman Ship SystemsIngalls Shipbuilding was a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. It was a leading producer of ships for the US Navy, and at 10,900 employees, the largest private empl
• Power Plant: 4 × General Electric LM2500-30The General Electric LM2500 industrial and marine turboshaft gas turbine is a derivative of GE Aircraft Engines' CF6-50 aircraft engine. The LM2500 is offered in addition to the LM6000. It delivers 33,600 shaft horsepower with a thermal efficiency of 37 p gas turbines; two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW).
• SPY-1 Radar and Combat System Integrator: Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland and employs 130,000 people worldwide. Robert J. Stevens is the CEO. It is a major defense con
• Length
  • Flights I and II (51-78): 505 ft (154 m)
  • Flight IIA (79-99): 509* ft (155 m)
  • Beam: 59 ft (18 m)
• Displacement
  • Hulls 51 through 71: 8315 tons full load
  • Hulls 72 through 78: 8400 tons full load
  • Hulls 79 and on: 9200 tons full load
• Speed: in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h)
• Aircraft: None. LAMPS III electronics installed on landing deck for coordinated DDG-51/helo ASW operations (hulls 51-78); two SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helos (hulls 79 on)
• Complement: 23 officers, 300 enlisted
• Armament: Standard missileThe "Standard Missile" is a type of surface-to-air missile (SAM) originally developed for the United States Navy. In September 2003 the United States Navy ceased to support the SM-1 and withdrew it from service, though the missile continues to be used by; AGM-84 HarpoonThe AGM-84 Harpoon is a US all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system. Harpoon uses active radar guidance and low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory to improve survivability and effectiveness. The missile is capable of being launched from; Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) missiles; Tomahawk missiles; six Mk-46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts); one 5 inch (127 mm)/54-caliber Mk-45 (lightweight gun) (DDG-51 through 80); one 5 inch (127 mm)/62-caliber Mk-45 mod 4 (lightweight gun) (DDG-81 on); two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (DDG-51 through 83); two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (DDG-84 on)
• Date Deployed: 4 July, 1991 (USS Arleigh Burke)