Nothing Can Kill the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer

the arleigh burke class ddg 51 guided missile destroyer is the most capable surface ship in the u.s navy and is the workhorse of the fleet today 62 of them roam the oceans giving meaning to american command of the seas and to the multi-decade pax americana that operates so seamlessly we mostly take it for granted these ships are the go-to capability when it comes to showing the flag and asserting u.s rights under international law just last month the uss russell ddg 59 and arleigh burke destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the south china sea the united states has conducted similar operations with arleigh burks in the black sea using the opportunity to signal american commitment to the north atlantic treaty organization alliance with its powerful suite of offensive and defensive weapons systems the arleigh burke is a true multi-mission ship capable of performing anti-submarine air defense missile defense and land sea attack missions the arleigh burke is the best air and missile defense ship in the world its powerful a-n-spy radar allows it to track both air and missile targets the aegis combat system allows these ships to engage multiple targets simultaneously the newest arleigh burke variants have the excellent spy 6 anti-air and anti-missile radar on board the aegis combat system will then choose the right weapon from its inventory of standard missiles this inventory includes the new sm-6 capable of engaging fixed-wing aircraft helicopters cruise missiles and some ballistic missiles and the sm-3 which is designed to engage longer-range ballistic missiles the next defensive system to be deployed on the ddg-51 will be a laser offensively the arleigh burke also packs a powerful punch it carries the tomahawk long-range land attack cruise missile including the newest block 5. this version has extended range enhanced navigation and communication systems and an improved data link the block 5 will be deployed in both a maritime strike version able to target moving ships and a hard target kill variant that can destroy land structures such as hardened command posts along with the tomahawk many ddg-51s carry a mix of harpoon missiles torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets the more modern variants also operate two mh-60r helicopters that can handle both submarines and surface targets u.s policy and strategy has adopted an enhanced focus on military competition with china in the west pacific region a large fleet of surface combatants is required to implement this strategy along with aircraft carriers and submarines meanwhile navy force planning in the american political system are converging on accelerating acquisition of a new class of frigate the constellation and quickly designing a new larger ship called the large surface combatant this is anticipated to be a replacement for the arleigh burke and possibly also the ticonderoga-class cruisers the navy is also looking at producing new smaller amphibious ships for the marines and possibly a light carrier because of the desire to move to a large new surface combatant construction of burke's destroyers is expected to taper off but a new ship program is an expensive effort it will take at least a decade to design an entirely new combatant and begin construction all defense acquisitions are difficult but getting a new class of warship into production is especially challenging the u.s navy has had significant challenges with new surface combatant designs in the last 20 years the ddg-1000 zumwalt-class destroyer a truly magnificent and revolutionary warship was so whiplashed by mission uncertainty new technology integration and design change orders but a planned acquisition of 32 ships ultimately produced three the littoral combat ship has been judged as not up to the needs of the blue water navy as its original mission is a counter-terror coastal platform has receded recently engine problems caused the navy to refuse to accept any additional freedom-class rhetorical combat ships it's worth remembering that the navy terminated the rla burke program to devote those resources to production of the ddg-1000 from 2006 to 2009 it did not acquire any ddg-51s when the decision was made to truncate the zumwalt class the navy had to restart the arleigh burke production line the additional costs associated with the production restart were significant it might make sense to keep building the ddg 51 and upgrade and modernize her successful holes for specific and additional missions the u.s shipbuilding industrial base knows how to build the arleigh burke there are two hot production lines one in maine one in mississippi keeping this building program going will maintain and even grow the fleet size quickly and at a known cost the navy should proceed carefully with its two new surface warships the new frigate and large surface combatant it is important to make sure the navy does not inadvertently shrink the fleet size if either the larger vessel or the new frigate or both get into design mission technical or political trouble the arleigh burke destroyer is still on the water today and has solid congressional support a multi-year budget plan that saves money and a proven combat record the next planned ddg 51 multi-year contract in fiscal year 2023 could extend or even increase this block by this will give the navy time to perfect new surface combatant planning without risking the combat power of the current fleet so [Music] so uh [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: US Military News

Views: 1,308,842

Keywords: Burke-class Destroyer, Burke Destroyer, Arleigh Burke, arleigh burke class destroyer, arleigh burke flight 3, arleigh burke aegis, arleigh burke ddg 51, arleigh burke ddg, arleigh burke flight iv, DDG-51, DDG, guided missile destroyer, destroyer ships, us destroyer ship, US destroyers

Id: 58FB3orQz8E

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 01 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Wilson7277]

Unsinkable?

Nah. Let's title our video nothing can kill. Rolls off the tongue so much better.

[u/[deleted]]

Quick! Someone tell the USS Cole.

Sure she didn’t sink, but….

Let’s try and avoid the hype next time.

[u/A444SQ]

Nothing is unsinkable as a Swedish sub in wargames simulated sinking a us carrier

[u/A444SQ]

that title shows arrogance which sums up the US Military

F.E

• The Royal Air Force Avro Vulcans dropped simulated nukes on several US cities twice
• The Royal Navy's Audacious Class Aircraft Carrier HMS Ark Royal was able to run rampant up and down the US East coast before the USN caught her
• The Royal Air Force English-Electric Lightning caught the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady

These are just 3 I know

[u/Tony49UK]

Intro:

The Arleigh Burke DDG 51 destroyer is the most capable surface ship in the US Navy.

What happened to the Ticos? There's still some of them in service and they're substantially larger and better armed.