USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115)

Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) will be an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The $679.6 million contract to build her was awarded on 26 September 2011 to Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine. On 15 February 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship's named to be Rafael Peralta in honor of Marine Rafael Peralta, who was petitioned for the Medal of Honor for shielding several Marines from a grenade in November 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom; however, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross instead after doubts regarding the exact sequence of events prior to his death was raised.

Rafael Peralta will be the 65th ship of the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers, the first of which, USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), was commissioned in July 1991. With 75 ships planned to be built in total, the class has the longest production run for any U.S. Navy surface combatant. As an Arleigh Burke-class ship, Rafael Peralta's roles included anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare, as well as strike operations. During it long production run, the class was built in three flights—Flight I (DDG-51–DDG-71), Flight II (DDG-72–DDG-78), and Flight IIA (DDG-79– ). Rafael Peralta will be a Flight IIA ship, and as such, will feature several improvements in terms of ballistic missile defence, an embarked air wing, and the inclusion of mine-detecting ability.