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Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers may finally find purpose as hypersonic missile shooters

Sailors walk past USS Zumwalt.
The Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers have struggled to find an adequate purpose, but are now being readied to carry hypersonic missiles still in development.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

  • The US Navy is converting Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers into hypersonic missile shooters.
  • The expensive Zumwalt class has struggled to find a suitable mission and weapons.
  • The upgrade is part of the US' effort to keep pace with adversaries in fielding hypersonic weapons.

The US Navy's Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers are hailed as a revolution in naval warfare due to their next-generation design and advanced technology.

But nearly two decades after the first-in-class USS Zumwalt began construction, the world's most advanced surface combatants are still not ready for combat, victims of development problems, cost overruns, and ineffective systems.

Now, the sea service is retrofitting the Zumwalt-class destroyers to launch future hypersonic missiles in a bid to make the costly warships more useful by allowing them to strike targets from afar with greater precision.

The Zumwalt has been docked at a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, since August 2023 to integrate the new and untested weapon system.

The ship is expected to be undocked this week as it prepares for tests and a return to the fleet, according to a shipyard spokeswoman, though the Navy said it wants to begin testing the ship's new hypersonic weapon system in 2027 or 2028.

The world's largest, most advanced destroyer
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt is seen at a parade during Fleet Week.
Named after Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt, former chief of naval operations, the Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of advanced surface combatants.

Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers are considered the most advanced surface warships in the world, equipped with innovative naval technology.

Named after Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., the youngest chief of naval operations in US history, the lead ship USS Zumwalt is the largest destroyer in the world at 610 feet long. It can house a crew of nearly 200 sailors and accommodate one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter in its hangar.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries were behind the design and construction of the three stealth destroyers.

The warships feature an all-electric propulsion system and a composite deckhouse covered with radar-absorbing material to hide their sensors and communication systems. But the US Navy has struggled to arm them.

Due to the ship's manufacturing issues and soaring costs, the Navy reduced the Zumwalt class's overall size from 32 ships to just three: the Zumwalt, USS Michael Monsoor, and the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, which is expected to commission after its combat systems are fully installed and activated.

The first shipborne hypersonic weapon
A view of USS Zumwalt's deck where hypersonic missile tubes are being retrofitted.
A view of USS Zumwalt's bow where hypersonic missile tubes are being retrofitted.

Gerald Herbert/AP

The stealth destroyers were armed with two 155 mm deck guns for shore bombardment, but ballooning manufacturing costs made the ammunition for the guns ridiculously expensive.

The Navy halted the ammo procurement in 2016, the same year the Zumwalt was commissioned, and publicly announced in 2018 that it was scrapping the now-useless main deck guns for a new weapon system.

In 2021, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said the stealth destroyers would be the first Navy warships to be armed with hypersonic missiles instead of its Block V Virginia-class submarines, saying that it would be an "important move" toward turning the surface ships into strike platforms.

The Navy said the first-in-class stealth destroyer's "upgrades will ensure Zumwalt remains one of the most technologically advanced and lethal ships in the US Navy."

Photos showed the Zumwalt's main deck gun mounts were removed. The cannons will be replaced with four all-up round canisters containing three hypersonic missiles each. These come in addition to its conventional missile arsenal of 80 vertical launch cells.

US efforts in hypersonic innovation
Machinery surrounds USS Zumwalt as it undergoes upgrades.
Huntington Ingalls Industries is modifying the USS Zumwalt to carry future hypersonic missiles.

Gerald Herbert/AP

The US military is working on hypersonic weapons across all branches. The Zumwalts will be armed with the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) system, the Navy's joint hypersonic weapons program with the Army and US Strategic Command.

Described by STRATCOM as "a strong deterrence message to our adversaries," the "highly lethal platform" would launch like a ballistic missile but instead uses a two-stage solid-fueled rocket booster to get the projectile to travel at speeds faster than Mach 5 speed β€” nearly 4,000 mph. The booster allows the missile to change trajectory at these speeds, unlike a ballistic missile, and combined with its lower altitude flight complicates efforts to intercept it.

The weapon system features an all-up round (AUR) missile and a separate payload modular adapter, which the Navy is testing along with the missile and eject system.

"It's not like any other type of missile," Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, the Navy's director of strategic programs, told reporters at the Naval Submarine League's annual symposium last month. "You don't light this thing off inside."

The CPS system failed its first test in June 2022, as well as subsequent flight tests in March and September 2023. The first successful test was completed this summer.

"The testing that we need to do to get to the final integration of Zumwalt, that's irrespective of where the Zumwalt's at, whether it's in the water," Wolfe added.

In addition to the CPS system, the Navy is also developing a hypersonic air-launched anti-ship missile expected to be compatible with the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet. However, few details about the $178.6 million program have been released to the public.

Scrapping the Zumwalts' twin turrets
People near a lighthouse on shore observe USS Zumwalt on water.
People near a lighthouse on shore observe USS Zumwalt on the water.

Gabe Souza/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

Developed to provide off-shore precision fire support from a distance, the Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers were armed with a pair of Advanced Gun System (AGS) mounts to fire naval artillery from up to 100 nautical miles away β€” in what would've been the US Navy's longest-range shell in use.

However, after the Navy reduced the size of its Zumwalt fleet, manufacturing costs for the Long-Range Land-Attack Projectile-guided shells skyrocketed to about $800,000 to $1 million per round β€” about the same price as a cruise missile.

The rocket-assisted projectiles also fell short of the intended range, prompting the sea service to cancel production of the munitions, rendering the pair of high-velocity cannons useless.

Before announcing the new hypersonic weapon, the Navy floated other weapon systems to replace the failed gun mounts, including an electromagnetic railgun or futuristic laser weapons.

The hypersonic edge
Sailors stand in the hangar of USS Zumwalt with world flags hanging around them.
Sailors stand in the hangar of USS Zumwalt with world flags hanging around them.

Michael Dwyer/AP

In recent years, US adversaries like Russia and China have been developing hypersonic weapons, adding pressure on the Pentagon to prioritize its own hypersonic development efforts.

China has "the world's leading hypersonic arsenal," and Russia has already deployed two of its three hypersonic weapon systems in Ukraine, according to congressional testimony from Jeffrey McCormick, senior intelligence analyst at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

The US, however, has yet to field a single hypersonic weapon amid ongoing development and integration challenges across the military, including the Zumwalt-class artillery upgrade.

'Is it really worth the money?'
The shoes of a Navy sailor is seen with USS Zumwalt in the background.
The shoes of a Navy sailor are seen with USS Zumwalt in the background.

Michael Dwyer/AP

Research and development for the destroyer cost about $22.4 billion, and General Dynamics spent another $40 million just to construct a shipyard facility large enough to accommodate the giant hull segments.

Each ship cost an average of $7.5 billion β€” more expensive than the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

Even with all of their costly innovations, the Zumwalt-class vessels continued to be plagued by equipment problems and constantly needed repairs.

Last year, the Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries with a $154.8 million contract to integrate the hypersonic weapon system aboard USS Zumwalt. The Congressional Budget Office also estimated that it would cost nearly $18 billion to buy and maintain 300 of the hypersonic boost-glide missiles for the next 20 years.

As the expenses of fielding US-developed hypersonic weapons pile up, some military analysts say the costs outweigh the benefits.

"This particular missile costs more than a dozen tanks," Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the DC-based think tank Lexington Institute, told the Associated Press. "All it gets you is a precise non-nuclear explosion, someplace far, far away."

"Is it really worth the money?" Thompson continued. "The answer is, most of the time, the missile costs much more than any target you can destroy with it."

A steep price to pay to keep pace
Then-Capt. James A. Kirk walks onto his new command, USS Zumwalt.
Then-Capt. James A. Kirk walks onto his new command, USS Zumwalt.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

While conventional missiles may cost less, long-range hypersonic weapons increase the chances of striking the targets of adversaries protected by advanced air defense systems like those of China and Russia.

"The adversary has them," retired Navy Rear Adm. Ray Spicer, CEO of the US Naval Institute, told the AP. "We never want to be outdone."

Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, told the AP that while the US stealth destroyers were "a costly blunder," the Navy could "take victory from the jaws of defeat here and get some utility out of them by making them into a hypersonic platform."

The jury is still out on whether the Zumwalt hypersonic upgrades are worth the hefty price tag, but it would at the very least give the stealth destroyers a purpose.

"Zumwalt gave us an opportunity to get [hypersonics] out faster," Gilday told USNI News in 2022," and to be honest with you, I need a solid mission for Zumwalt."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Navy putting first shipborne hypersonic weapon on vessel once seen as 'costly blunder'

The Pentagon is in the process of fitting the first-ever shipborn hypersonic missile system to a U.S. stealth destroyer once considered to be defunct.

The USS Zumwalt is stationed at a Mississippi shipyard as it undergoes the retrofit. The U.S. Navy is installing missile tubes towards the vessel's bow, where two inactive gun turrets were once positioned. The turrets had never been activated due to cost.

"It was a costly blunder. But the Navy could take victory from the jaws of defeat here, and get some utility out of them by making them into a hypersonic platform," Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, said of the Zumwalt's retrofit.

The development comes as the U.S. competes with Russia and China to develop and implement new hypersonic weapons technologies.Β 

US WARNS RUSSIA POTENTIALLY AIDING NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IN DIRECT THREAT TO EUROPE, ASIA

Hypersonic missiles hold a key advantage in contemporary warfare because they travel at such high speed that missile defense systems cannot reliably shoot them down.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES ANOTHER LARGE MISSILE, DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE'S ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to target Ukrainian government buildings in Kyiv with hypersonic missiles last week. Such missiles are also believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. West Coast.

Putin's announcement came after President Biden approved Ukraine to use U.S.-made ATACMs missiles on targets in Russian territory.

"Of course, we will respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory with long-range Western-made missiles, as has already been said, including by possibly continuing to test the Oreshnik in combat conditions, as was done on November 21," Putin told a meeting of a security alliance of ex-Soviet countries in Kazakhstan.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES RECORD NUMBER OF DRONES IN NEW ATTACK

"At present, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff are selecting targets to hit on Ukrainian territory. These could be military facilities, defense and industrial enterprises, or decision-making centers in Kyiv," he said.

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Putin claims Russia's production of advanced missile systems exceeds that of the NATO military alliance by 10 times, and that Moscow planned to ramp up production further.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

See aboard the USS Beloit, the Navy's new $500 million littoral combat ship upgraded to fight near coastlines

The USS Beloit decorated with ribbons.
USS Beloit is the US Navy's newest Freedom-class littoral combat ship.

US Navy photo by EJ Hersom

  • USS Beloit, the US Navy's new littoral combat ship was commissioned on Saturday.
  • Known as LCS 29, the warship is designed for operations in both shallow waters and open seas.
  • The Navy has retired several Freedom-class ships due to maintenance costs and mission capability.

The US Navy commissioned its newest $500 million littoral combat ship, USS Beloit, in Milwaukee on Saturday.

The new Freedom-class warship is named for Beloit, Wisconsin, where defense manufacturer Fairbanks Morse has long built engines and military technology for Navy vessels.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro touted the Beloit's improved engineering and advanced combat capabilities, upgrades necessary to surmount the challenges that have dogged the Freedom-class ships.

"USS Beloit reflects many of the engineering and weapons improvements that the littoral combat ship has gained since the Navy first began operating these ships," he said, adding that "when it receives new capabilities, such as the Naval Strike Missile, it will sail even more confidently in contested waters."

The new vessel's commissioning comes as the Navy pushes to scrap some of its extremely young fleet of littoral combat ships plagued by propulsion issues, design flaws, and costly maintenance.

An embattled legacy
US Navy crewmembers board USS Beloit at Veterans Park in Milwaukee.
US Navy crewmembers board USS Beloit at Veterans Park in Milwaukee.

US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Diana Salgado

The Navy operates two types of littoral combat ships: the Independence-class and the Freedom-class. The former class of ships has suffered from structural flaws, while a litany of maintenance issues has plagued the latter, and several of both classes have been deactivated before their time.

For example, USS Milwaukee, a $750 million Freedom-class ship, was decommissioned last year after just eight years in service. The LCS was originally meant to serve for 25 years. It is one of about half a dozen littoral combat ships β€” most being from the Freedom class β€” that have been pulled from active service.

Retired Navy Vice Adm. Dirk Debbink told Business Insider that the Navy has made improvements to the class since then.

"There's a lot of confidence in the engineering plant now, for example, which is a problem with some of the earlier ships of the class," he said of the USS Beloit. "I'm excited about this ship because I think it's going to hopefully redeem the class in general."

Whether the full range of issues with the LCS have been addressed remains to be seen. There have long been concerns about cost, performance, and survivability, and key questions persist regarding the LCS's suitability in a high-end fight against a near-peer adversary like the US military's pacing challenge β€” China. The Navy has since put some of its hopes for the LCS into the new class of frigate in development.

15th Freedom-class LCS
The USS Beloit in the water with rocks and a dock in the foreground.
The Navy described the USS Beloit as a "fast, agile" vessel.

US Navy photo by EJ Hersom

Built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the Navy describes USS Beloit, its 15th Freedom-variant LCS, as a "fast, agile" vessel that can operate in shallow waters near shore and in the open ocean. It has a much smaller crew than a destroyer and is armed with fewer weapons for sustained combat.

After it was christened in May 2022, the Beloit completed sea trials the following year and was delivered to the Navy in late September.

The warship will be homeported at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

Spacious flight deck and hangar
The USS Beloit warship floats in Milwaukee.
USS Beloit's hangar can accommodate up to two MH-60 helicopters.

US Navy photo by EJ Hersom

The ship measures 387 feet long and can reach speeds of over 46 miles per hour β€” outpacing the rest of the fleet with its waterjet propulsion.

Its hangar can accommodate two MH-60 helicopters or one helicopter and one drone, and its flight deck is 50% larger than that of traditional surface combatants, according to the ship's commissioning committee.

A versatile fighter
Inside the USS Beloit warship.
The Navy said USS Beloit will be equipped with long-range anti-surface missiles.

US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Diana Salgado

LCSs are designed to support maritime security and deter enemy attacks. The Freedom-class ships are armed with a SeaRAM close-in weapon system that fires intercept missiles and a 57mm gun capable of firing up to 220 rounds per minute.

USS Beloit will also be equipped with Naval Strike Missiles, a long-range anti-ship weapon system capable of striking with high precision.

USS Beloit also includes an automated radio room, a decoy launching system, and a gunfire control system.

A history-making ship sponsor
US National Guard soldiers fire a salute during a commissioning ceremony rehearsal for USS Beloit.
US National Guardsmen fire a salute during a commissioning ceremony rehearsal for USS Beloit.

US Navy photo by EJ Hersom

Retired Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson, the first Black woman to achieve that Army rank in 2011, was chosen to sponsor USS Beloit.

Navy secretaries choose sponsors based on their relationship to the vessel's namesake or mission, and Anderson's hometown is Beloit.

"It is important to recognize that small cities like Beloit have had an outsized impact on our National Security for over 100 years and also have a significant role in the history of our country," Anderson wrote in a statement on the ship's commission committee website.

"We must never forget that the reason our country is so admired around the world is because we have always been a nation that honors and recognizes the devotion and courage of ordinary people," she continued. "The USS Beloit exemplifies and continues that tradition."

Personnel
The crew of USS Beloit stands in formation ahead of the ship's commissioning ceremony.
The crew of USS Beloit stands in formation ahead of the ship's commissioning ceremony.

US Navy photo by Cpl. Diana Salgado

The ship's core crew consists of 50 sailors, and its spaces can accommodate up to 98 sailors.

Rocky the Badger
The flag of the USS Beloit warship featuring a badger.
USS Beloit's battle flag features Wisconsin's state animal, the badger.

US Navy photo by EJ Hersom

USS Beloit's battle flag features a badger, Wisconsin's state animal. The ship's mascot is named Rocky, after the Rock River in Beloit.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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