The U.S. Navy’s first Modernization 2.0 program-upgraded Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer made its combat debut launching Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles against Iranian targets in Operation Epic Fury.
Videos from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) depict USS Pinckney (DDG-91) participating in ongoing military operation against Iran. While the destroyer has only received some of the modernization program’s primary upgrades, its presence in the Middle East supporting American long-range strikes shows that Washington’s most advanced electronic warfare-equipped surface combatant is being fielded in combat operations.
The destroyer was previously in the region to attend the Indian-led Milan naval drills weeks before the beginning of Epic Fury, but withdrew its participation before the exercise.
Pinckney is the first of an envisioned 20 vessels from the Flight IIA variant to receive elements of the service’s large-scale electronic warfare, radar and combat system upgrades. Among the most notable features from the modernization is the installation of SLQ-32(V) Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block III, which has drastically altered Pinckney‘s deck house. Alongside the backfitting of new SPY-6 radars and an update for the Aegis Weapons System, the U.S. Navy claims that the $17 billion modernization program will enable upgraded destroyers to deploy Flight III-like capabilities.
“The bottom line here, the real takeaway that I want you to take here, is that we are bridging the gap between our legacy destroyers and the Flight III by delivering decisive combat power to the Flight IIA DDGs,” Capt. Tim Moore, the program manager for DDG 2.0 modernization, told reporters during a presentation at the Surface Navy Association’s (SNA) 2025 annual symposium.
With its new electronic warfare suite via SEWIP, Pinckney can jam inbound enemy anti-ship missile threats and support a oft Soft Kill Coordination System (SKCS). The Block III variant also includes a new electronic attack capability, which was described at SNA 2023 to be “just unprecedented in capability.”
Pinckney is not the only U.S. surface combatant deployed to the region with advanced capabilities. The laser dazzler system-equipped destroyers USS Spruance (DDG-111) and USS John Finn (DDG-113) have fired Tomahawks in support of Epic Fury. These vessels field the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (AN/SEQ-4 ODIN), one of several laser systems deployed by the service in recent years. Compared to other high-powered lasers that could hard-kill air and missile threats, ODIN’s dazzler capability was procured by the service to counter unmanned aerial vehicles.
