USS Pinckney Begins US Navy's First SPY-6(V)4 Radar Installation on an Arleigh Burke Destroyer

The US Navy said on October 22 that the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) has begun the second phase of its upgrade under the Destroyer Modernization 2.0 (DDG MOD 2.0) program, a Depot Modernization Period at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego. The availability is the service's first installation of both the SPY-6(V)4 radar and High Efficiency Super-Capacity (HESC) air-conditioning plants, the Navy said.

According to the release, issued by the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Maritime, which the Navy describes as the single accountable organization for delivering surface ships to the service, the availability centers on fitting the SPY-6(V)4 radar fully integrated with Aegis Combat System Baseline 10. The HESC plants are being installed to meet the electrical and thermal demands of the new combat system. The Navy said DDG MOD 2.0 has used a "Split Start" approach of phased installations, intended "to maximize learning" across its industry partners.

Pinckney also led the program's earlier step. The Navy said the destroyer completed a "1.5 DMP" availability in 2024 as the first warship to receive the SLQ-32(V)7 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) system and sponson modifications, then deployed to the Pacific and Middle East. "Upon Depot Modernization Period completion, USS Pinckney will rejoin the Fleet equipped with the most comprehensive multi-spectral integrated sensor suite designed to maintain maritime superiority for decades to come," the program manager for DDG MOD 2.0 said in the release.

Naval News reported on October 24 that Pinckney returned to its homeport at Naval Base San Diego on August 9 after an eight-and-a-half-month deployment to the Middle East and Pacific. The work is expected to finish by September 2028 and forms part of a $149.6 million contract awarded to General Dynamics, according to Naval News. The radar is Raytheon's AN/SPY-6(V)4, and Aegis Baseline 10, developed by Lockheed Martin, enables simultaneous air and ballistic missile defense, the outlet reported.

Naval News also set out the structure of the program's first phase: four destroyers, Pinckney, USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), USS James E. Williams (DDG 95) and USS Halsey (DDG 97), were fitted with SEWIP Block III, and each of the four is to receive the radar in a later refit. Future DDG MOD 2.0 installations will combine both upgrades in a single shipyard availability, starting with USS Sterett (DDG 104), the program manager told Naval News.

GlobalMilitary.net's US Navy inventory lists 76 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in active service, with further hulls fitting out and on order. Recent changes logged by the site include the commissioning of USS Ted Stevens, a Flight III Arleigh Burke, at Whittier, Alaska, on October 3.

In late September, two Ticonderoga-class cruisers, a type the Navy is retiring, left service. USS Lake Erie was decommissioned at Naval Base San Diego on September 25, and USS Shiloh was decommissioned at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on September 30.

Pinckney is due to remain at NASSCO until September 2028, by Naval News's account, before returning to the fleet with the new radar and combat system. Later ships will follow a combined schedule, with USS Sterett the first to receive the electronic warfare and radar upgrades in a single availability, according to the program manager's comments to Naval News.