Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block III

Destroyer Looks Radically Different After Electronic Warfare Upgrade.
Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block III installation aboard a Arleigh Burke class destroyer. The radical upgrade leaves its host warship looking very different than prior to modification. It’s not for nothing that the configuration has already been dubbed ‘muffin top’ by some less-than-kind observers.
First off, it’s well worth checking out our two previous in-depth features on this topic, discussing the full scope of SEWIP III revolutionary capabilities and our previous look at the revisions to the superstructure, before looking at the entire installation in its completed state, and just how dramatic the changes it brings are.
The photos in question depict the USS Pinckney (DDG-91), a Flight IIA subvariant, and the first of the Arleigh Burke class to receive SEWIP Block III. The vessel left San Diego yesterday after a two-year regularly scheduled maintenance period, which included the upgrade. While the contours of the warship are radically different, this is especially noticeable from the front and rear aspects. Here, the sides of the main superstructure are completely reworked, with two enormous, geometric, fully enclosed extensions having been added, replacing what were previously open platforms and attachment points.
Previous photos of Pinckney were posted on the ship’s official Facebook page in September this year, while the warship was still yet to return to service. Nevertheless, they gave us a good preview of what the SEWIP Block III upgrade would look like once back at sea with the fleet. Previous generations of SEWIP systems have been in use on the Arleigh Burke class since it first entered the fleet three decades ago. Prior to this latest upgrade, the USS Pinckney also featured this earlier SEWIP equipment, distinguished by smaller enclosures mounted on external platforms on either side of the main superstructure below the bridge wings. This is standard across the class, with different SEWIP configurations existing on various ships, but all pale in comparison to SEWIP Block III.