PASCAGOULA, Miss. – The future Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) was launched from Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard on Sept. 8. The multi-day process includes moving the ship from a land facility to the dry dock, and slowly flooded until the ship is afloat. With the ship in the water, final outfitting and production can commence. The ship is being configured as a Flight IIA destroyer, which enables power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of Low Intensity Conflict/Coastal and Littoral Offshore Warfare as well as open ocean conflict. Ingalls Shipbuilding is currently in production on future destroyers Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) and Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123). It’s also is under contract for one additional DDG, Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), awarded as part of the five-ship buy. It will be the first ship to be configured in the Flight III design. (Source: Naval Sea Systems Command, 09/11/17)
