Arleigh Burke Destroyers Taking On Navy Air Defense Commander Role As Cruisers Disappear From Fleet
Arleigh Burke class Flight IIA destroyers were the air defense commanders for two carrier strike groups last year and plans are now underway to expand the practice.
Geoff Ziezulewicz
Updated on Jan 20, 2025
As the U.S. Navy waits for more of its Flight III Arleigh Burke class destroyers to join the fleet, existing Flight IIA DDGs will increasingly be taking on the air defense commander role in a carrier strike group (CSG) that has long been served by the aging Ticonderoga class cruiser fleet.
The Navy has four variants in its workhorse guided-missile destroyer fleet: Flight I, Flight II, Flight IIA and Flight III. Flight IIIs will one day take over the air defense commander mission as they were designed specifically to accommodate it, but to date, just one, the USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), has been commissioned into service. As a result, the Flight IIAs will increasingly be handling a CSG’s air defense command mission as the Navy’s cruiser fleet retires. Unlike destroyers taking on traditional missions that are often skippered by O-5 rank commanders, air defense DDGs will be helmed by O-6 rank captains, as cruisers are, reflecting the heightened importance of that mission.
USS Jack H. Lucas
The USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), the first of the Flight III destroyers. (USN)
A warship serving as a CSG air defense commander is responsible for tracking any and all objects in the sky for the CSG, and coordinating actions across the CSG to investigate and, if need be, neutralize those threats. They are the nerve center of the air warfare fight and have the ability to use all the air defense assets in the CSG to achieve their objectives.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/older-destroyers-taking-on-navy-air-defense-commander-role-as-cruisers-disappear-from-fleet
