The Navy plans to extend the service life of 12 older destroyers — including three based in San Diego Bay — due to the serious and expensive problems it’s having building new warships. All of the ships are first generation Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which are capable of doing everything from launching long-range cruise missiles to protecting carrier strike groups. The 12 Burkes in question vary in age, but all are designed to serve for 35 years. Locally, the destroyers USS Paul Hamilton and USS Curtis Wilbur will be required to operate five years longer than normal, and the USS Stethem will get a one-year extension. San Diego is home to 56 surface warships, 15 of which are Burke-class destroyers. The decision to extend the life of the 12 “small boys,” as they’re known, was “based upon a hull-by-hull evaluation of ship material condition, combat capability, technical feasibility and lifecycle maintenance requirements,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in a statement Thursday. For years, the Navy has experienced large cost overruns, production issues and design problems in its shipbuilding program. This has caused major delays in the delivery of new ships. Most recently, the Navy announced that the lead vessel in the new Constellation-class frigate program won’t be ready until 2029 — three years late. The new frigates are needed to replace littoral combat ships, which have proven to be of limited use to the Navy and are more expensive to operate than expected. A dozen littoral combat ships are based in San Diego.