The Pentagon has given the green light for the Navy to build a second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer this fiscal year at a shipyard in Maine, an announcement that could provide a boon to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in the final weeks of her exceedingly tight race for reelection.

In a news release Monday, the Pentagon said it has determined General Dynamics Bath Iron Works has the “capacity and stability” needed to support building the second destroyer, backtracking on its budget request for fiscal 2027 that asked for funding for one destroyer.

“After a rigorous review, Bath Iron Works has proven it has the capacity and stability to support construction of a second destroyer,” Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg said in a statement Monday. “While the operational improvements we have seen at BIW are a significant step in the right direction, the shipyard must continue this momentum to fully resolve legacy production challenges — sustained performance is essential.”

Congress will still need to approve funding for the second destroyer for it to become a reality, and the Pentagon funding outlook as a whole for fiscal 2027 remains muddled.

The Trump administration’s $65.8 billion request for shipbuilding funding for fiscal 2027 envisioned just one Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, a decision that prompted concern from Maine lawmakers that production lines at Bath Iron Works, one of the state’s largest employers, could run cold. 

The House’s fiscal 2027 Defense spending bill advanced by the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in June included funding for one destroyer, in line with the administration’s request. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not released its fiscal 2027 Defense spending measure.

Among the lawmakers who raised concerns over the plans to fund only one destroyer in fiscal 2027 was Collins, who used her perch as Senate Appropriations Committee chair to press the Navy on the issue.

“Such a reduction would send a troubling signal to the industrial base at a time when the Navy continues to emphasize the need for greater fleet capability and resiliency,” Collins said at May hearing with acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao. “Bath Iron Works in Maine, which is only one of two surface combatant shipyards in the country, has made real progress in workforce retention and accelerating production stability due to the . . . steady demand signal.”

At the hearing, Cao attributed the budget request to a backlog at Bath Iron Works. Of 11 destroyers on contract for the shipyard, seven are under construction and four have yet to start construction, he said.

But in Monday’s announcement, the Pentagon said the shipyard has made “significant operational and managerial improvements” and that a “thorough review” of its production throughput, schedule adherence, quality assurance benchmarks, supply chain resilience and workforce optimization showed that building a second destroyer is feasible.

“I have advocated for a second destroyer to be included in this year’s budget, and I worked with the administration during its careful review and repeated visits to BIW to verify the ability of the shipyard to construct another ship while continuing to complete its current workload,” Collins said in a statement included in the Pentagon’s news release. “This certification will help keep our Navy strong and support BIW as a steady source of good-paying Maine jobs.”

In his own statement, Bath Iron Works President Charles Krugh also specifically highlighted Collins’ advocacy.

“I’d like to specifically thank Sen. Susan Collins for her advocacy in her role as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee for working to show that BIW and each of you who work here have earned the privilege of building this ship for the U.S. Navy,” Krugh said Monday. “We are fortunate to have a Congressional Delegation that actively supports our shipyard.”

The announcement, and accompanying spotlight on Collins, comes about three weeks before the November midterm elections where the Maine Senate seat is seen as key to which party will win control of the chamber.

Collins is running for reelection against Democrat Troy Jackson in a race that elections analysis site Inside Elections rates as a tossup.