The US Navy announced that the destroyer USS Jack H Lucas (DDG-125), the first Arleigh Burke-class ship in the Flight III configuration, joined the fleet on October 7. The ship began construction in November 2019 and was launched in June 2021. Its displacement is 9,496 tons, with full combat load, its length is 155.3 meters and its width is 20 meters. It incorporates four LM-2500 engines with a total power of 100,000 hp. It reaches a maximum speed of 31 knots (57 kilometers per hour) and requires a crew of 380. Their armament consists of one 127/62mm Mk.45 Mod.4 cannon, two 25mm Mk.38 cannons and four 12.7mm machine guns.
The ship also incorporates a Phalanx close protection system. At the missile level, the ship incorporates 96 vertical launch cells (Mk.41 VLS) in two clusters of 32 and 64 cells respectively. These cells can launch RIM-66M, RIM-156, RIM-174A ERAM, RIM-161 and RIM-162 ESSM anti-aircraft and anti-missile missiles (four missiles per cell). They can also launch BGM-109 Tomahawk ground attack missiles and RUM-139 ASROC anti-submarine rockets. The armament of the ships is completed by two triple Mk.46/50/54 torpedo launchers.
