A revolution in naval warfare: what the US Navy's new Zumvolt multi-purpose destroyers are capable of

The US Navy's Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers are being called a revolution in naval warfare due to their next-generation design and advanced technologies. This is reported by Business Insider.

The publication notes that almost two decades after the start of construction of the first in its class, the USS Zumwalt is still not ready for combat and has become a victim of development problems, overspending and an ineffective management system.

“The Navy is currently upgrading Zumwalt-class destroyers to launch future hypersonic missiles, in an effort to make these expensive warships more useful by allowing them to strike targets from afar with greater precision,” the article says.

The authors point out that Zumwalt-class destroyers are considered the most advanced surface warships in the world, equipped with innovative naval technologies.

“The lead ship of the USS Zumwalt … is the largest destroyer in the world, measuring 610 feet long (about 186 meters – UNIAN). It can accommodate a crew of nearly 200 sailors and one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter in its hangar,” the article writes edition.

In addition, the warships have an all-electric propulsion system and a composite deckhouse covered with radar-absorbing material to conceal their sensors and communications systems.

However, due to production problems and high costs, the US Navy reduced the number of Zumwalt-class ships from 32 to three: the Zumwalt, the USS Michael Monsoor, and the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson:

“The destroyers were armed with two 155mm deck guns for shore bombardment, but rising production costs made ammunition for the guns prohibitively expensive.”

It is noted that the Navy stopped purchasing ammunition in 2016, the same year the Zumwalt was commissioned, and publicly announced in 2018 that it was scrapping the now-unused main deck guns for a new system. armament. In 2021, then-Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday announced that the stealth destroyers would be the Navy's first warships armed with hypersonic missiles, replacing the Block V Virginia-class submarines, saying it would be a “major step” toward transforming surface ships into strike platforms.

“It's not like any other type of missile. You can't light this thing up inside,” said Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe, director of strategic programs for the US Navy.

Meanwhile, defense analyst at the Hudson Institute Brian Clark noted that while the US stealth destroyers were “a costly mistake,” the Navy could “get some benefit from them by converting them into a hypersonic platform.”