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Updated December 21, 2022
Navy DDG(X) Next-Generation Destroyer Program:
Background and Issues for Congress
Introduction
surface ship combat system equipment. The surface
The Navy’s DDG(X) program envisages procuring a class
combatant industrial base also includes hundreds of
of next-generation guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) to
additional component and material supplier firms.
replace the Navy’s Ticonderoga (CG-47) class Aegis
cruisers and older Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class Aegis
DDG(X) Program
destroyers. The Navy wants to procure the first DDG(X) in
FY2030. The Navy’s proposed FY2023 budget requests
Program Designation and Lead Ship Procurement
$195.5 million in research and development funding for the
In the program designation DDG(X), the X means the
program.
precise design for the ship has not yet been determined. As
mentioned earlier, the Navy wants to procure the first
Navy Large Surface Combatants (LSCs)
DDG(X) in FY2030, though the date for procuring the first
ship has changed before and could change again.
Force-Level Goal
Procurement of DDG-51s—the type of LSC currently being
The Navy refers to its cruisers and destroyers collectively
procured by the Navy—would end sometime after
as large surface combatants (LSCs).The Navy’s current
procurement of DDG(X)s begins.
355-ship force-level goal, released in December 2016, calls
for achieving and maintaining a force of 104 LSCs. The
Navy’s General Concept for the Ship
Navy’s FY2023 30-year (FY2023-FY2052) shipbuilding
Figure 1 shows a Navy rendering of a notional DDG(X)
plan, released on April 20, 2022, summarizes Navy and
design concept. The Navy approved the DDG(X)’s top-
OSD studies outlining potential successor Navy force-level
level requirements (i.e., its major required features) in
goals that include 63 to 96 LSCs.
December 2020. A November 2022 Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) report on the Navy’s FY2023 30-year
Existing LSCs
shipbuilding plan states that “the Navy has indicated that
The Navy’s CG-47s and DDG-51s are commonly called
the initial [DDG(X)] design prescribes a displacement of
Aegis cruisers and destroyers because they are equipped
13,500 tons,” which would be about 39% greater than the
with the Aegis combat system, an integrated collection of
9,700-ton Flight III DDG-51 design.
sensors and weapons named for the mythical shield that
defended Zeus. The Navy procured 27 CG-47s between
Figure 1. Navy Rendering of Notional DDG(X) Design
FY1978 and FY1988. The ships entered service between
1983 and 1994. The first five, which were built to an earlier
technical standard, were judged by the Navy to be too
expensive to modernize and were removed from service in
2004-2005. Of the remaining 22 ships, the Navy’s FY2023
budget submission proposes retiring 17 in FY2023-
FY2027, and the final 5 after FY2027.
The first DDG-51 was procured in FY1985 and entered
service in 1991. The version of the DDG-51 that the Navy
is currently procuring is called the Flight III version. The
Navy also has three Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyers
that were procured in FY2007-FY2009 and are equipped
with a combat system that is different than the Aegis
system. (For more on the DDG-51 and DDG-1000
programs, see CRS Report RL32109, Navy DDG-51 and
DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues
for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.)
Source: Slide 5 from briefing on DDG(X) program by Captain David
LSC Industrial Base
Hart, DDG(X) Program Manager, January 12, 2022, presented at
Surface Navy Association annual symposium.
All LSCs procured for the Navy since FY1985 have been
The Navy envisages the DDG(X) as having (1) Flight III
built at General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works (GD/BIW) of
DDG-51 Aegis combat system elements; (2) more growth
Bath, ME, and Huntington Ingalls Industries/Ingalls
margin than the Flight III DDG-51 design, meaning more
Shipbuilding (HII/Ingalls) of Pascagoula, MS. Lockheed
space, weight-carrying capacity, electrical power, and
Martin and Raytheon are major contractors for Navy
https://crsreports.congress.gov
link to page 1 Navy DDG(X) Next-Generation Destroyer Program: Background and Issues for Congress
cooling capacity (aka SWAP-C) for accepting additional or
billion to $2.4 billion. The CBO and Navy estimates are
higher-power equipment and weapons (including directed-
about 41% to 55%, and 5% to 9%, respectively, more than
energy weapons) over the ship’s service life; (3) an
the DDG-51’s procurement cost of about $2.2 billion.
integrated power system (IPS); (4) reduced vulnerability
due to reduced infrared, acoustic, and underwater
Issues for Congress
electromagnetic signatures; (5) increased cruising range and
Issues for Congress regarding the DDG(X) program include
time on station; and (6) increased weapon capacity.
the following: (1) Would a new LSC larger than the Flight
III DDG-51 design be consistent with the Navy’s
The Navy states that the baseline DDG(X) design, like the
Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) concept, which
Fight III DDG-51 design, is to include 96 standard Vertical
envisages a future fleet with a smaller proportion of larger
Launch System (VLS) cells, with an ability to incorporate
ships and a larger proportion of smaller ships? (2) The
12 large missile launch cells in place of 32 of the 96
Navy in the past has studied options for a lengthened
standard VLS cells. It is also to include two 21-cell Rolling
version of the DDG-51 that would displace between 11,000
Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers and an ability to be
and 12,000 tons. Would the DDG(X) be more cost-effective
built with an additional mid-body hull section, called the
than a lengthened DDG-51? (3) Has the Navy accurately
Destroyer Payload Module (see Figure 1), that would
identified the DDG(X)’s required operational capabilities?
provide additional payload capacity. The Navy states that
(4) Why is there a 35% to 43% difference between the CBO
The Future Naval Force Study (FNFS) and the
and Navy estimates of the DDG(X)’s average procurement
Future Surface Combatant Force Analysis of
cost? (5) Would future Navy budgets permit the
Alternatives
(FSCF
AoA)
identified
the
procurement of DDG(X)s in desired numbers while
requirement for future large surface combatants
adequately funding other Navy priorities? (6) Has the Navy
(LSCs) to be capable of hosting directed energy
taken adequate steps to mature DDG(X) technologies and
(DE) weapons, larger missiles for increased range
mitigate technical, schedule, and cost risk in the program?
and speed, increased magazine depth, growth in
(7) Has the Navy planned adequately for the transition from
DDG-51 procurement to DDG(X) procurement, and for
organic sensors, and an efficient integrated power
resulting impacts on the shipbuilding industrial base?
system to manage the dynamic loads... [S]tudies
were performed from FY 2018 to FY 2020 that
FY2023 Funding Request and
considered modification of existing surface
Congressional Action
combatant and amphibious ships in addition to new
The Navy’s proposed FY2023 budget requests $49.7
concepts. These studies concluded that a new
million for Project 0411 (DDG[X] Concept Development)
material solution via DDG(X) is required to deliver
within Program Element (PE) 0603564N (Ship Preliminary
the necessary margins and flexibility to succeed the
Design & Feasibility Studies), which is line 47 in the
DDG 51 Class as the next enduring LSC.... By
Navy’s FY2023 research and development account, and
including the DDG 51 FLT III combat system
$145.8 million for “DDG(X) Power & Propulsion Risk
elements in the DDG(X) baseline, Navy is taking an
Mitigation & Demonstration,” which forms part of Project
“evolutionary” (vice “revolutionary”) approach to
2471 (Integrated Power Systems [IPS]) within PE
the [DDG(X)]class, incorporating a critical lesson
0603573N (Advanced Surface Machinery Systems), which
learned from the successful evolution of the DDG
is line 49.
51 Class from [the Aegis cruiser design].
The joint explanatory statement for the FY2023 National
(Source: Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY)
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R. 7776)
2023 Budget Estimates, Navy, Justification Book,
recommends approving the Navy’s FY2023 funding
Volume 2 of 5, Research, Development, Test &
requests for the DDG(X) program (PDF pages 516 and 517
Evaluation, Navy, April 2022, p. 475.)
of 748). Section 130 of the H.R. 7776 prescribes certain
aspects of the DDG(X) acquisition strategy. The joint
Procurement Quantities and Procurement Cost
explanatory statement discusses Section 130 briefly (PDF
The Navy has not specified how many DDG(X)s it wants to
pages 6-7 of 748) and directs the Navy to provide a report
procure. The Navy’s FY2023 30-year shipbuilding plan
on the Navy’s pursuit of an electric-drive propulsion system
projects LSCs being procured in FY2030 and subsequent
for the DDG(X) (PDF page 15 of 748).
years in annual quantities of one to three ships per year.
The explanatory statement for the FY2023 DOD
In constant FY2019 dollars, the Navy wants the first
Appropriations Act (Division C of H.R. 2617) as released
DDG(X) to have a procurement cost of $3.5 billion to $4.0
by the Senate Appropriations Committee on December 19,
billion, and for the 10th ship in the class to have a
2022, approves the Navy’s FY2023 funding requests for the
procurement cost of $2.1 billion to $2.5 billion. The
DDG(X) program (PDF page 214 of 329).
November 2022 CBO report estimates the DDG(X)’s
average procurement cost in constant FY2022 dollars at
Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs
$3.1 billion to $3.4 billion—about 35% to 43% more than
the Navy’s estimate (shown in the CBO report) of $2.3
IF11679
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Navy DDG(X) Next-Generation Destroyer Program: Background and Issues for Congress
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