HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division began fabrication of the future USS John F. Lehman (DDG 137) Monday, marking the official start of construction on the Navy’s newest Flight III Arleigh Burke‑class destroyer.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) press release
The milestone builds upon early construction gains enabled by HII’s distributed shipbuilding model, which expands capacity by shifting fabrication of major structural units from Pascagoula to partner yards beyond the company’s traditional labor market that have available workforce and production space. For DDG 137, six partners across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida are producing structural units, allowing Ingalls to distribute work across the supply chain.
“Our Ingalls shipbuilders have worked hard to reach fabrication start on DDG 137, and by focusing our teams and facilities on final assembly and integration, our distributed shipbuilding partners are enabling us to grow the Flight III fleet,” said Chris Brown, Ingalls Shipbuilding DDG 51 program manager. “We know the U.S. Navy is counting on us to deliver highly capable ships, and this industry-wide effort is helping us meet that responsibility with urgency.”
DDG 137 is the seventh Flight III destroyer to be constructed at Ingalls. Flight III ships represent the next generation of surface combatants, featuring the Flight III AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar system and the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system designed to counter evolving threats well into the 21st century.
Ingalls currently has five Flight III destroyers under construction and seven more in early pre-planning and material procurement phases. As part of its distributed production strategy, HII plans to outsource more than 2.5 million hours of shipbuilding work in 2026, driving work to qualified yards nationwide and supporting long‑term industrial base resiliency.
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