Builder’s trials completed for US Navy destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr.

Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has successfully completed the builder's trials for the future US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer spent three days in the Gulf of Mexico undergoing testing of its combat system. These tests included the firing of a missile.

John Fillmore, Ingalls' Arleigh Burke-class program manager, said the successful completion of the builder's trials will then be followed by a final trial prior to delivery of the ship to the navy.

The ship honours the late Lieutenant General Frank E. Petersen Jr., who was the US Marine Corps' first African-American aviator and general officer.