USS Arleigh Burke in the Mediterranean Sea in March 2003
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Arleigh Burke |
Namesake | Arleigh Albert Burke |
Ordered | 2 April 1985 |
Builder | Bath Iron Works |
Laid down | 6 December 1988 |
Launched | 16 September 1989 |
Commissioned | 4 July 1991 |
Homeport | Rota |
Identification |
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Motto | Fast and Feared |
Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Arleigh Burke-class destroyer |
Displacement | |
Length | 505 ft (154 m) |
Beam | 59 ft (18 m) |
Draft | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 × shafts |
Speed | In excess of 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
Range | 4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Complement | |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Electronic warfare & decoys |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 1 × Sikorsky MH-60R |
USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988; launched on 16 September 1989; and commissioned on 4 July 1991.
Arleigh Burke's designers incorporated many lessons learned by the Royal Navy during the Falklands campaign and from the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were becoming too expensive to continue building and too difficult to upgrade.[4] Arleigh Burke was the first modern destroyer designed with features meant to lower its radar cross-section, which improves a ship's ability to evade radar detection. She also used a slightly downgraded version of the Aegis Combat System, which allows for launching, tracking, and evading missiles simultaneously. Her all-steel construction provides good protection for her superstructure, while her Collective Protection System allows her to operate in environments contaminated by chemical, biological, or radiological materials.