DD (X) Destroyer Goes Ahead
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The Pentagon has opted to press ahead with a new multibillion-dollar destroyer being developed by Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics as the centerpiece of the U.S. Navy's future fleet.
The Defense Department cleared a Navy plan to let each company go ahead with detailed design work on the ship. Under the newly approved "dual lead ship" strategy, each company will build a ship of its own to meet requirements set by the Pentagon and the Navy. On completion, the Navy will recommend to the Pentagon how to acquire the rest of a projected $18 billion DD(X) fleet.
The destroyers, designated the DD(X), once developed, would allow the Navy to strike miles inland or to hit isolated targets in populated coastal areas with precision guided weapons, and offer ground support to troops from the safety of the sea, the Navy has said.
Naval officials also like the prospect that the design of the ship is highly automated and requires a small crew.
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works in Maine -- the nation's two major builders of war ships -- partnered in the design phase of the DD(X), which would replace the Navy's aging fleet of destroyers. There is no set plan for who will be awarded contracts on the remaining six ships.
