The debate around the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) has been mixed with rage, hope, and cautious expectations. It first arose as a futuristic stealth multi-mission destroyer showcase, but then its tale was dominated by troubled technicalities, budget exceeding spirals, and fluctuating strategic interpretations.
Designed not only to fulfil the needs of current naval operations but also to be prepared for future wars, the Zumwalt-class seemed perfect. Besides being able to cut sharp waves with its hollow tumblehome hull, having a near-zero radar profile, and carrying a power installation allowing up to 78 megawatts of power (enough to supply all the street lights of a small town), it was a radical naval architecture concept.
With a radar signature that was very close to invisible, one could say that it was not easy to spot the ship installing a composite structure and using electronically steered radar arrays. However, the program was plagued by difficulties.
Out of the initial 32 ship plans, only three of them had been actually constructed, each one costing more than $4 billion. Unfortunately, naval gunfire with the help of the 155mm Advanced Gun System turned out to be almost impossible to use due to ammunition cost, which was $800,000 per 1 round; they were left with amazing firepower that had already become impractical to employ.
After the installation of a new missile system named Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS), the Zumwalt underwent a major overhaul in 2023. At HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, the old gun mounts had been removed and replaced with tubes for Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike missiles. By December 2024, HII had completed the milestone that led to Zumwalt re-entering the fleet fully armed.
The Navy and Army have combined efforts for this program, which will provide the ship with hypersonic cruise missiles that can go as fast as Mach 6. These glide missiles are tough to hit because they are following a boost-glide path. So the hypersonic tubes on the vessel can hold 12 hypersonics in total (each tube carries 3 of them), and one can do the math of this being enough for hypersonic weapons to fit.
However, these Mk 57 Vertical Launch System cells still equipped for Tomahawks, Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles, Standard Missiles, and ASROC can accept separate payloads of different kinds of munitions thus greatly extending operational flexibility plus making way for even more combat versatility as HII is simultaneously upgrading the Mk 41 and Mk 57 systems so it is possible to fire any missile from any cell.
From a strategic point of view, the change of Zumwalt reflects the speed of global naval modernization. Strategically, carrying the advantages of stealth, speed, and hypersonic strike ability, it is possible for the ship to accomplish hit-and-run attacks on high-value, timely targets far inside well-protected zones, thus making it very hard for its adversaries to detect – a major plus in present-day naval warfare.
Yet there are still some problems. Although the purpose of the ship’s curved hull is to lower radar visibility, it is vulnerable in a rough sea without short-range defensive weapons like CIWS. As there are only three ships of this class, maintenance and upgrades are both costly and intricate.
What is being planned is to replace the radar and combat systems of Zumwalt with gear such as the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar and the Aegis Combat System, which are more common, so the maintenance and logistical pressures would be reduced.
The broader naval landscape remains complicated. To keep old Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in service, fleet readiness is strained, while newer programs, such as the DDG(X) years away from completion are still in development. While shipbuilding is growing rapidly all over the world, the big question remains: will the fleets of the future be made up of smaller but more technologically advanced ships, and be able to compensate for their superior numbers?