The newest weapon in the US Navy’s arsenal is now under construction

WASHINGTON ― When the destroyer Jack Lucas joins the U.S. Navy’s fleet in 2024, it will look similar to the 73 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that preceded it.

• David B. Larter
• DefenseNews

But it’s going to be a very different, more capable killer than its predecessors.

Huntington Ingalls announced Tuesday that it had begun fabrication of the first Flight III Destroyer, a ship that crucially adds Raytheon’s AN/SPY-6 air and missile defense radar.

A ship is considered “in fabrication” after the first 100 tons of steel have been cut ― a milestone that Jack Lucas surpassed this week at Ingalls’ Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard.

The Flight III is a major overhaul of the…