Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers are built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar, while the first ship commissioned on 4th July 1991. After the decommissioning of the last Spruance class vessel, USS Cushing, in 2005 the Arleigh Burke class ships became the U.S. Navy's only active destroyers.
The class is named for Admiral Arleigh '31 Knot' Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of WWII. Admiral Burke was alive when the class leader was commissioned, and his words echo: "This ship is built to fight; you had better know how."
The Arleigh Burke class are among the largest and most powerful destroyers ever built, both larger and more heavily armed than many previous cruisers and built entirely from steel, rather than having a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. (An aluminum mast is used to reduce topweight). A 1975 fire aboard USS Belknap that gutted her aluminum superstructure and observation of battle damage to British ships during the Falklands War prompted the decision to employ a steel superstructure.