HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division has started fabrication of the future USS John F. Lehman (DDG 137), marking the official start of construction on the Navy’s newest Flight III Arleigh Burke‑class destroyer.

The milestone builds upon early construction gains enabled by HII’s distributed shipbuilding model, which expands capacity by shifting fabrication of major structural units from Pascagoula to partner yards beyond the company’s traditional labor market that have available workforce and production space.