WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tonight announced that the U.S. Navy has exercised a contract option, in the amount of $642,583,946 to construct a fifth Arleigh Burke class destroyer (DDG-51) at Bath Iron Works (BIW) as a part of the 10-ship multiyear procurement contract from 2013-2017. 

“We worked to secure the authorization and critical funding for this ship during the past two years, which was necessary for the Navy to build the fifth DDG-51 at BIW.   This additional destroyer will not only help add stability to the workforce at BIW and result in greater savings for the taxpayers, but it will also allow the Navy to send another DDG-51 to sea when the Navy’s fleet needs to preserve important combat capabilities now and into the future in support of our national defense," said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement.

Senators Collins and King strongly advocated for an additional $100 million that was required for the Navy to award this ship. That funding was authorized in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act and appropriated included in the Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill signed into law in January. The Senate version of the defense funding bill included this money, but the House version of the bill did not.  Because the ships are being procured through a multi-year procurement contract, the savings to the Navy and the taxpayers is expected to total more than $1.5 billion.

###