Technological advances have improved the capability of modern destroyers culminating in the Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class. Named for the Navy's most famous destroyer squadron combat commander and three-time Chief of Naval Operations, the Arleigh Burke was commissioned July 4, 1991, and was the most powerful surface combatant ever put to sea. Like the larger Ticonderoga class cruisers, DDG 51's combat systems center around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-lD, multi-function phased array radar. The combination of Aegis, the Vertical Launching System, an advanced anti-submarine warfare system, advanced anti-aircraft missiles and Tomahawk, the Burke class continues the revolution at sea.

The DDG 51 class incorporates all-steel construction. In 1975, the cruiser USS Belknap (CG 26) collided with USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67). Belknap suffered severe damage and casualties because of her aluminum superstructure. On the basis of that event, the decision was made that all future surface combatants would return to a steel superstructure. And, like most modern U.S. surface combatants, DDG 51 utilizes gas turbine propulsion. These ships replaced the older Charles F. Adams and Farragut-class guided missile destroyers.

The Spruance-class destroyers, the first large U.S. Navy warships to employ gas turbine engines as their main propulsion system, are undergoing extensive modernizing. The upgrade program includes addition of vertical launchers for advanced missiles on 24 ships of this class, in addition to an advanced ASW system and upgrading of its helicopter capability. Spruance-class destroyers are expected to remain a major part of the Navy's surface combatant force into the 21st century.