Peralta was killed during the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq when he was wounded by small arms fire while clearing houses with his fellow Marines.

[13] As an Arleigh Burke-class ship, Rafael Peralta's roles will include anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare, as well as strike operations.

[14] Rafael Peralta is a Flight IIA ship, and as such, features several improvements in terms of ballistic missile defense, an embarked air wing, and the inclusion of mine-detecting ability.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers Rafael Peralta and USS Russell (DDG-59) arrived in Sasebo for a port visit on 8 February 2020.

[20] Rafael Peralta was used in the Amazon Prime Video series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, season 2 episode 8 in November 2019.