- USS Jack H. Lucas is the U.S. Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and has been designated as the initial operational test and evaluation campaign ship.
- The ship introduces the AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar and Aegis Baseline 10 to improve air, missile, and ballistic missile defense capabilities.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) has emerged as the U.S. Navy’s first Flight III warship, introducing a new generation of surface combatant capability centered on advanced radar, power, and combat systems.
Commissioned on October 7, 2023, Jack H. Lucas has been designated by the Chief of Naval Operations as the initial operational test and evaluation, or IOT&E, campaign ship for the Flight III class. The designation places the destroyer at the center of testing and validating technologies intended to shape the Navy’s future surface fleet.
“Jack H. Lucas is the Chief of Naval Operations designated initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) campaign ship,” said Capt. Andy Bucher, the ship’s commanding officer.
An IOT&E campaign ship is tasked with taking new systems to sea, evaluating them in operational conditions, and refining requirements before broader fleet introduction.
“In order to rapidly transition this technology to the fleet and to get it out on the front line, Jack H. Lucas was designated as the IOT&E campaign ship, and we push on a very aggressive schedule to test underway while going through different scenarios,” Bucher said. “Jack H. Lucas is tasked with taking the technology to sea, to test it, and then to rapidly and iteratively build on that so that we meet the requirements to maintain that war-fighting edge.”
At the center of the Flight III upgrade is the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar. The system replaces the SPY-1D(V) radar used on earlier Arleigh Burke variants and provides far greater sensitivity and tracking capacity. Navy officials say the radar can detect, track, and discriminate smaller, faster, and more complex threats at longer ranges, including advanced cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and emerging hypersonic systems.
Chief Sonar Technician (Surface) Nicholas Cederblom compared the transition in practical terms.
“It’s like going from a flip phone to an iPhone,” Cederblom said. “It does the calling, it does the texting, but it does so much more. And moving from that system into the advanced capabilities build, what we have right now, definitely is a lot more. No one else has done this.”
Integrating SPY-6 required substantial changes below deck. The Flight III design includes an upgraded electrical plant, expanded cooling capacity, and strengthened ship structures to support the radar’s power and thermal demands.
“USS Jack H. Lucas looks like every other destroyer,” Cederblom said. “We have the same weapon systems outside, but it’s the internal component, and it’s the people itself that make it different. We are training the next generation to go forward with our new SPY-6, with our Baseline 10, with our engineering plants having to supply everybody on board the ship to get where we need to go.”
Operationally, Jack H. Lucas retains the Aegis Combat System, now fielded as Baseline 10. The updated configuration supports integrated air and missile defense, ballistic missile defense, and faster response timelines against complex threats. Navy officials say the combination of SPY-6 and Baseline 10 is intended to provide greater situational awareness and engagement capacity in dense threat environments.
Bucher said the ship’s role goes beyond testing hardware.
“To come here and see what this ship can do is truly impressive,” he said. “And it makes me proud as an American. And I hope that it makes the taxpayer proud that their capital investment is well spent. And then it is crewed by 300 citizens that are absolutely giving what they’ve got to make this platform, and this campaign and this class succeed. It is an engineering marvel. The things that this ship can do are truly impressive. I’ve been here about 18 months now and watching the technology evolve and watching it meet requirements – it’s amazing. I would say that the capacity in the war-fighting capability that it brings are remarkable.”
The destroyer is named after Capt. Jacklyn Harold “Jack” Lucas, a U.S. Marine who became the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor at age 17 during World War II. The ship operates under Commander, Naval Surface Force, Pacific Fleet, whose mission is to man, train, and equip surface forces to control the seas and project power ashore.