The US Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) is set to be christened at General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works subsidiary in Maine.

DDG 118 is named for Daniel Inouye, a late-Hawaiian Senator and Medal of Honor recipient. Inouye served with the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team during the Second World War and as US Senator from 1963 until his death in 2012.

Wife of the late Senator and the ship’s sponsor, Irene Hirano Inouye will attend the christening ceremony.

US Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said: “The future USS Daniel Inouye will serve for decades as a reminder of Senator Inouye’s service to our nation and his unwavering support of a strong Navy and Marine Corps team.

“This ship honours not only his service but the service of our shipbuilders who help make ours the greatest Navy and Marine Corps team in the world.”



DDG 118 is configured as a Flight IIA destroyer. It will be the 68th destroyer in the Arleigh Burke-class. Currently, the navy has 21 ships under contract for the DDG 51 programme.

The USS Harvey C Barnum Jr (DDG 124) is the last ship in the Flight IIA configuration. The navy is substantially modifying the design of the DDG-51 Flight IIA destroyer to create a Flight III configuration.

This configuration is designed to deliver quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare.

At 509.5ft-long and 59ft-wide, the future Daniel Inouye will have a displacement of 9,496t. The ship will be homeported in Pearl Harbor.

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The keel for the vessel was laid in May last year.