With an overall length of 505 to 509.5 feet (153.9 to 155.3 m), displacement ranging from 8,300 to 9,700 tons, and weaponry including over 90 missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are larger and more heavily armed than many previous classes of guided-missile cruisers.

[2] The class's design incorporates stealth techniques, such as the angled (rather than traditional vertical) surfaces and the raked tripod mainmast, which make the ship more difficult to detect by radar.

Other lessons from the Falklands War led to the Navy's decision to protect the Arleigh Burke class's vital spaces with double-spaced steel layers, which create a buffer against anti-ship missiles (AShMs), and Kevlar spall liners.

[16] The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is equipped with the Aegis Combat System, which combines information from the ship's sensors to display a coherent image of the environment and guides weapons to targets using advanced tracking and fire control.

[39][11] The SM-6, which provides over-the-horizon defense,[40] and the SM-2 Block IIIC feature a dual-mode seeker with active radar homing (ARH) capability; they do not have to rely on external illumination, so more targets may be intercepted simultaneously.

[60][61][62][63][64] Arleigh Burkes can also carry two 25 mm Mk 38 machine gun systems, one on each side of the ship, designed to counter fast surface craft.

The helicopters also serve in a utility role, able to perform vertical replenishment, search and rescue, medical evacuation, communications relay, and naval gunfire spotting and controlling.

The Navy started work to develop a lower-cost Aegis-equipped vessel to fill the low end and replace the aging Charles F. Adams destroyers.

[83] Political restraints led to design restrictions, including the absence of helicopter hangars, a displacement limit of 8,300 tons, and a 50-foot shorter hull than the Ticonderoga's.

[88] Among the additions are two hangars and support facilities for ASW helicopters, Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC),[87] the Kingfisher mine detection system, and five blast-resistant bulkheads.

[33] To accommodate the hangars, the length was increased to 509.5 ft (155.3 m), and the rear-facing SPY-1D arrays are mounted one deck (eight feet) higher to prevent a blind spot.

[91] Systems removed from Flight IIA include the Harpoon missile launchers[N 5] and, starting with USS McCampbell (DDG-85), the forward Phalanx CIWS.

[98] The current DDG 51 modernization program is designed to provide mid-life upgrades to ensure the destroyers remain effective with service lives of at least 35 years.

[106] In March 2018, the Navy announced the HED would be installed on USS Truxtun (DDG-103) to test the technology, but upgrades of further destroyers would be halted due to changed budget priorities.

[61][62][63][64] In February 2018, Lockheed Martin received a contract to deliver its High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system for installation onto an Arleigh Burke destroyer.

[120] In October 2020, National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien said that all three Flights of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer would field the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) missile developed under the Conventional Prompt Strike program.

Installing them on Arleigh Burke destroyers would require removing some Mk 41 cells to accommodate the larger weapon, an expensive and time-consuming process.

[124] DDG MOD 2.0 will backfit SPY-6(V)4 and Aegis Baseline 10 to provide similar capabilities to Flight III ships,[N 7] as well as upgrade cooling systems to support the new radar.

[126] Starting in 2025, the Navy will replace Phalanx CIWS on the destroyers with RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers to improve their point defense capability.

[133] In April 2009, the Navy announced a plan limiting the Zumwalt class to three units while ordering another three Arleigh Burke-class ships from both Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding.

[149] Costs for the Flight III ships increased as requirements for the program grew, particularly related to the planned Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) needed for the IAMD role.

The destroyer class will incorporate emerging technologies like lasers, onboard power-generation systems, increased automation, and next-generation weapons, sensors, and electronics.

[170] In 2018, CNO Admiral John Richardson criticized the policy of keeping six highly mobile BMD platforms "in a little tiny box, defending land", a role that he believed could be performed equally well at less cost by shore-based systems.

[171] In October 2016, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Mason and Nitze were deployed to the coast of Yemen after a UAE auxiliary ship was struck in an attack for which Houthi rebels claimed responsibility.

[175][177] On 7 April 2017, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Ross and Porter conducted a TLAM strike against Shayrat Airfield, Syria, in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chemical attack on his people three days prior.

[180] The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Donald Cook and Winston S. Churchill took positions in the Mediterranean prior to the 2018 strike to mislead defending forces.

[181] In October and November 2023, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Carney and Thomas Hudner, while deployed in the Red Sea, shot down numerous drones and missiles.

[183] On 27 November, Carney detected two ballistic missile launches from Houthi-controlled territory headed towards herself and nearby M/V Central Park; they splashed ten nautical miles away.

[191] USS Cole was damaged on 12 October 2000 in Aden, Yemen, while docked by an attack in which a shaped charge of 200–300 kg in a boat was placed against the hull and detonated by suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members.

[195] Destroyer classes based on the Arleigh Burke have been adopted by the following naval forces:[196][197] The 2009 film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen features USS Preble.