The USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), the lead ship of its class, docked at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on August 19, marking the initial phase of what the U.S. Navy expects to be a substantial enhancement of the destroyer’s capabilities.
The $154.8 million contract awarded by the Pentagon underscores a pivotal shift for a ship that, despite its advanced design, has grappled with utility and performance issues since its inception.
The Zumwalt-class destroyer, initially planned as a fleet of 32 stealth warships primed for close-to-shore operations, saw its orders diminished to a scant three due to soaring costs and questions over its utility.
The drastic order reduction led to the unsustainable cost of its specially designed ammunition, the Long Range Land Attack Projectile, which was priced at approximately $800,000 per round.
The cost increase, alongside the guns’ inability to achieve desired ranges, led to the abandonment of ammunition procurement in 2016, the very year the Zumwalt was commissioned.
By 2018, senior Navy officials began to consider decommissioning the guns, and now those plans have materialized.
As the Navy seeks to repurpose and rejuvenate the stealth destroyers, the installation of a new hypersonic missile system represents a potential redemption for the Zumwalt class.
According to a Pentagon announcement, the contract tasks the shipyard with replacing the original twin 155mm Advanced Gun Systems with four 87-inch missile tubes.
ATLANTIC OCEAN (Dec. 7, 2015) The future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is underway for the first time conducting at-sea tests and trials in the Atlantic Ocean Dec. 7, 2015. The multimission ship will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works/Released)
Each tube will accommodate three Common Hypersonic Glide Bodies (C-HGB), advanced missiles capable of striking targets across the globe with minimal warning.
Developed in a joint effort between the U.S. Army and the Navy, the C-HGBs form part of the Pentagon’s strategic weapons portfolio.
The Navy aims to have the weapons on the Zumwalt ready for testing by December 2025 and plans to field them in the Virginia Payload Module on the Block V Virginia-class attack submarines by 2029.
However, delays in the development of these advanced missiles have been noted by the Government Accountability Office, which raises the possibility of a deferred timeline for the Zumwalt’s hypersonic capabilities.
Meanwhile, the sister ships in the Zumwalt class are not left out in the cold. The USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) received a $10.5 million planning contract in January for similar work, and the USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) has been at Ingalls Shipbuilding since January 2022 for combat systems activation.
This class-wide upgrade is part of the Navy’s broader initiative to integrate the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapons system across its surface fleet.
This push for hypersonic armament isn’t isolated to the Navy. On October 12, 2023, the U.S. Air Force launched its hypersonic missile prototype, the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), from a B-52H bomber. This development is indicative of the Department of Defense’s broader strategy to advance munitions technology and maintain a competitive edge.
Relevant articles:
– HII Awarded $155M Contract for USS Zumwalt Hypersonic Missile Upgrade, USNI News, Aug 29, 2023
– U.S. Air Force conducts hypersonic missile test, gains ‘new insights’, ipdefenseforum.com
– US Navy stealth destroyer Zumwalt’s deck guns are basically useless, but it’s on its way to get new hypersonic missile launchers, businessinsider.com