Pentagon Clears a Second Destroyer for Bath Iron Works, Reversing Its Own FY2027 Budget Three Weeks Before Collins's Election

The Pentagon has approved a second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, Roll Call reported on October 13. The fiscal 2027 budget request had funded only one destroyer, within a $65.8 billion shipbuilding request. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg said the yard had shown that “sustained performance is essential.”

The decision still needs money from Congress. The House defense appropriations subcommittee’s bill includes one destroyer. The Senate hasn’t released its bill.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine

Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The politics

Senator Susan Collins of Maine chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and pressed for the second ship. Her race against Democrat Troy Jackson is rated a toss-up, and the announcement came three weeks before the November 3 election. Bath Iron Works is one of Maine’s largest private employers, with about 7,000 workers.

In May the acting Navy Secretary, Hung Cao, said the yard had 11 destroyers under contract.

The shipbuilding picture

The decision reverses a cut the Pentagon proposed only months ago, at a time when its shipbuilding record is under scrutiny. GAO found in July that the newest version of the destroyer, the DDG-51 Flight III, is 55 months behind schedule. The Navy canceled most of its Constellation frigate program in late 2025. We covered both in our acquisition post.

The war with Iran has added pressure. Destroyers carry the SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors used against Iranian missiles, and the Navy has kept ships deployed longer than planned. A second ship in fiscal 2027 adds capacity, but deliveries are years away.

Why it matters

Destroyer procurement normally runs on multiyear contracts that give yards a steady workload. Moving between one and two ships a year disrupts that, and the Pentagon’s own budget said one was enough. Approving a second in the middle of a close Senate race invites the question of whether the decision was about the fleet or the election.

Congress will settle it in the fiscal 2027 defense appropriations bill, which is stuck along with the rest of the budget until after November 3. The stopgap funding law runs to December 11.