BIW has contracts for the construction of 21 Arleigh Burke class destroyers (DDG 51) and plays a lead role in providing design, engineering, and ongoing life cycle support services for DDG 51 class ships. BIW is a member of a three-contractor team which was awarded a contract to design and build the Navy's new class of amphibious transport ships (LPD 17), and is a member of a three-contractor team recently formed to compete for the development, design, construction and life-cycle support of the U.S. Navy's next generation surface combatant ships (DD 21). The US Navy has awarded BIW a maintenance contract for the Perry class (FFG 7) frigates.
At the time it was acquired by General Dynamics, Bath was saddled with a fairly antique method for final assembly. Following the acquisition, materials handling and metal fabrication were modernized, and GD invested $200 million in building a land-level launching system and upgrading other facilities. In early 1997 Bath Iron Works released details of its $307 million plan to improve the shipyard's ability to compete with its primary rival, Ingalls Shipbuilding of Mississippi. The project would include a modern complex of facilities that would transform how BIW builds and launches ships at its main yard in Bath. The project includes construction of a fifteen acre land level transfer facility and manufacturing support center, and a 750-foot dry-dock.