Press Releases

Contract comes day after last in original run of Arleigh Burke-class leaves Bath

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said this morning that the Navy has awarded Bath Iron Works a $26 million contract for design work on the new DDG 1000 class of destroyers. Yesterday, the last of the original run of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers—the Michael Murphy—sailed down the Kennebec River from Bath. The Navy is currently building the first of three Zumwalt-class destroyers—the DDG 1000 line—in Bath. Pentagon officials have now agreed to continue building the Burke line in both Maine and Mississippi.

"The contract will help keep workers on the job designing and building the DDG 1000 this winter and help keep the workforce at BIW on the job," Pingree said. "They are some of the best ship builders in the world and it's critical to keep up the employment levels at the yard."

The contract will provide for detailed design and construction work on the DDG 1000 line, including technical and industrial engineering on the ship, between now and next March. The first of the DDG 1000, the USS Zumwalt, is scheduled to be launched in Maine in 2015.