The USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was once touted as the sea warfare of the future—a sleek, angular destroyer filled with cutting-edge technology and two huge 155mm Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) designed to bash enemy targets deep in the interior. The initial intention was bold: a 32-ship fleet of Zumwalt-class ships, each of which would rule the waves with firepower unprecedented in history. Things did not turn out as planned. Costs got out of control, technical issues added up, and strategic realities changed. Ultimately, only three ships were constructed, leaving the Navy to wonder at a $22 billion work of art that was both a marvel of technology and a warning of the pitfalls of unfettered ambition.
The crown jewel of Zumwalt’s original firepower was the AGS, which would fire Long Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP) with precision to a pinpoint. GPS-guided rounds could hit nearly vertically and therefore be very deadly. But each round was $800,000, which was not feasible for use in sustained operations. As the Navy shifted emphasis away from in-shore fighting and toward massive blue-water competition, the AGS had less and less utility. Even ideas such as railguns, which were originally considered for the Zumwalt’s goliath powerplants, ultimately were abandoned, and most of the ship’s technological potential remained unfulfilled.
The real revolution arrived with hypersonic missiles. The Navy determined to modify Zumwalt to accommodate the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missile, which travels more than five times the speed of sound and can hit targets at ranges of up to 1,725 miles. That required significant modifications. While at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, the ship was brought ashore and refitted for a year.
The two AGS mounts were removed: the forward mount was redesigned to carry CPS launch canisters, and the rear mount remained open for future upgrades. Zumwalt currently has four canisters per side, each loaded with three CPS missiles, totaling twelve hypersonic boost-glide weapons.
This is not merely a matter of replacing guns—it’s a change in naval policy. Hypersonic missiles can saturate an enemy’s defenses at breakneck speed, attacking land-based targets, air defense systems, infrastructure, or ships before they can return fire. The Pentagon has already successfully tested CPS, and future improvements may enable the missiles to change course in mid-air and even target mobile targets. The rationale for being strategic is simple: speed and precision are not a luxury anymore—these are necessities.
Zumwalt possesses capabilities other than armaments that are technological. Her Integrated Power System (IPS), powered by two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines producing 78 megawatts of electricity, was initially meant to energize railguns and sensors of the future. Even sailing at 20 knots, Zumwalt has 58 megawatts to spare—enough power to light up approximately 10,000 homes.
This makes her a proving ground for next-generation high-energy weapons and next-generation sensor systems. Her wave-piercing tumblehome hull design and composite deckhouse make her hard to detect, though recent changes have made her radar signature somewhat different.
Controversy setting aside, Zumwalt is still a successful warship. She carries 80 Peripheral Vertical Launch System (PVLS) cells for Tomahawk missiles, Standard Missiles, Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles, and anti-submarine rockets. The ship boasts a very small crew of only 147 sailors and space for 28 Marines, showing the Navy’s emphasis on minimalism and cheaper operation. Advanced sensors such as the SPY-3 radar are utilized for air tracking and land monitoring even in sophisticated environments.
The hypersonic upgrade carries strategic heft. While the U.S. is in a rush to deploy hypersonic capability, CPS is its weight in gold. Its Common Glide Body is common with the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, minimizing the cost of production and integration. Navy leaders are hurrying to get CPS on board Zumwalt, emphasizing the ship’s role in future wars.
The Zumwalt program is also an example of ambition and restraint. Pushing the limits of military technology is a gamble: greater expense, scrapped programs, and changed priorities. But its power generation, stealth design, and hypersonic strike capability remain dazzling achievements. Plans for the next-generation DDG(X) destroyers aim to combine the best of Zumwalt and proven Arleigh Burke design so that lessons will not be lost.
As Zumwalt expands, its role in the fleet remains in doubt. Will it be the game-changing hypersonic platform for which so many years have been dreamed of so long ago, or an expensive test? The solution lies out there, in time, technology, and what the future needs for naval combat. For now, Zumwalt remains as proof of innovation at sea—a vessel that endured the ordeal of great ambition to become the Navy’s most radical hypersonic warship.