Navy alters course, now wants 3d new Zumwalt destroyer

Bath Iron Works in Maine will get a share of the assembly work on a third DDG-1000 destroyer the Navy now wants. (Fred J. Field for the Boston Globe/File 2001)

PORTLAND, Maine - The Navy has reversed course and decided to push for construction of a third DDG-1000 destroyer that would be built at Bath Iron Works, Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, and Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, said yesterday.

Last month, the Navy said it was aborting its $20 billion plan for the new class of destroyers after just two ships. At the time, the Navy said it was instead opting to build more of the current-generation DDG-51, or Arleigh Burke, destroyers.

Combat systems for the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer are being supplied by Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., while General Dynamics Co.'s Bath Iron Works in Maine is sharing the assembly work with a Mississippi yard.

Collins said Navy Secretary Donald Winter informed her the Navy also plans to reprogram some funding to purchase spare parts for DDG-51s that could also restart production of that class.

In a letter to Collins, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England indicated the shift in Navy thinking was due in part to concern about a potential disruption in the nation's shipbuilding base.

"This plan will provide stability of the industrial base and continue the development of advanced surface ship technologies such as radar systems, stealth, magnetic and acoustic quieting, and automated damage control," England wrote.

The House and the Senate have been at odds over the Zumwalt. The Senate authorized $2.6 billion for a third ship; the House eliminated the money from its version of the defense appropriations bill.