Navy Identifies First Destroyer to Receive Full Set of DDG MOD 2.0 Upgrades

January 16, 2025 9:41 AM - Updated: January 17, 2025 12:53 PM
USS Pinckney (DDG-91) underway in San Diego Bay on Nov. 7, 2023. San Diego Web Cam Photo

This post has been updated to correct when USS Halsey (DDG-97) began its modernization. 

ARLINGTON, Va. – USS Sterett (DDG-104) will be the first destroyer to receive all electronic warfare, radar and combat system upgrades under the service’s Destroyer Modernization 2.0 program in a single availability period within the next five years.

Compared to the existing quartet of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers slated for modernization, USS Pinckney (DDG-91), USS James E. Williams (DDG-95), USS Chung Hoon (DDG-93) and USS Halsey (DDG-97), which will undergo the project in two availability phases, DDG 2.0 modernization program manager Capt. Tim Moore told reporters yesterday at the Surface Naval Association symposium that Sterett will complete its upgrades in one go.

“The bottom line here, the real takeaway that I want you to take here, is that we are bridging the gap between our legacy destroyers and the Flight III by delivering decisive combat power to the Flight IIA DDGs,” said Moore.

The $17 billion modernization program aims to bring the fleet’s Flight IIA destroyers up to “Flight III-like capabilities” through the installation of the Northrop Grumman’s AN/SLQ-32(V)7 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block III, Raytheon’s AN/SPY-6 air and missile defense radar and Lockheed Martin’s Baseline 10 Aegis Weapon System.

“These ships, just like the Ticonderoga-class cruisers, were purpose-built around the SPY-1 radar and the Aegis combat system. And now I am tasked with ripping out that legacy radar and replacing it with the new SPY-6 and upgraded combat system, coupled with other significant midlife upgrades,” Moore stressed to reporters on the nature of his program.

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) prepares to pull out of port at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif., on Nov. 21, 2024. US Navy Photo

In the first modernization period, destroyers will receive the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 SEWIP Block III. According to Moore, these vessels will serve in the fleet “for some time” before returning for a second depot modernization period to receive a modified AN/SPY-6 air and missile defense radar. Pinckney has already received the first phase of modernization in 2024 and is set to undergo SEWIP Block III testing this year. Destroyers James E. Williams and Chung Hoon kicked off their installations of the highly advanced electronic warfare system last January and February respectively. Moore further announced that work on Halsey began last September.

On top of the comprehensive electronic warfare and air defense radar upgrades, the Navy has also identified USS Kidd (DDG-100) to be the first of a “handful of ships” to receive only a SEWIP Block III upgrade and no SPY-6 back fit. Work on the destroyer was awarded to Vigor Seattle, Wash. and is set to begin next month.

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa is a freelance defense journalist based in Washington, D.C.

Get USNI News updates delivered to your inbox