The U.S. Navy launched a land-based test site in Philadelphia for the next-generation guided-missile destroyer program DDG(X).
The service’s Program Executive Office Ships and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday to unveil the test zone, which will support technical and risk reduction efforts for the DDG(X) program’s critical systems, the branch said Thursday.
“Today we mark the beginning of a unique test site that will be used to advance the design, reliability and capability of our Nation’s next-generation guided-missile destroyer, the DDG(X), the successor to the supremely successful DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class,” said Capt. Joseph Darcy, NSWCPD commanding officer.
According to the Navy, the DDG(X) program is still in the concept refinement phase.
In July 2022, General Dynamics subsidiary Bath Iron Works and HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division secured Navy contracts to perform shipbuilder engineering and design analysis for the destroyer program.
