The U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers were for years a mystery. They were intended to be high-tech, multi-mission, stealth warships to transform naval combat. They were, however, best remembered for their astronomical price tag, dramatically cut-down fleet size, and main gun—the 155mm Advanced Gun System—which never existed as hyped. The guns’ ammunition was outrageously pricey, and the ships lacked a definite main armament at some point; they even questioned their practical purpose in real life.
Today, however, the Zumwalt story is unfolding unexpectedly. The Navy plans to bring them into service as the first American surface ships upon which hypersonic missiles can be fired, a turn of events that could at last render them tactically and strategically useful. This is not a revision—an internal reconsideration of the way the Navy conceives power projection, deterrence, and surface warfare in the post-Scoop Era.
The changes must be substantial. The Advanced Gun Systems that filled the bows of the ships are being replaced to fit four massive launch tubes. The tubes, Navy program manager Capt. Clint Lawler explained, are 87 inches in diameter and provide space for three canisters of the Advanced Payload Module with three Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) hypersonic missiles per canister.
In practice, that is up to 12 hypersonic missiles per Zumwalt. To make it viable requires significant structural changes—removing deeply embedded gun mounts, substituting bulkheads for reinforced ones, and new combat and fire control systems to accommodate the peculiar requirements of hypersonic warfare.
They are sophisticated. The U.S. Navy CPS missile was jointly developed with the U.S. Army and shares the same boost-glide vehicle as the Army’s LRHW system, known as Dark Eagle.
They are rocket-powered missiles, charging past Mach 5 before jettisoning the glide vehicle and flying unsteadily to the target. Their mix of mind-boggling speed and maneuverability would make them difficult to detect and shoot down, ideal for striking time-sensitive, high-priority targets deep within enemy territory.
Strategically, it’s unprecedented. Hypersonic missiles reduce time-to-target exponentially and boost survivability against future defenses. With potential rivals developing advanced anti-access/area-denial capabilities, the ability to launch a strike from a stealthy capability in a timely fashion gives a gigantic tactical advantage. The Zumwalt’s radar cross-section and cutting-edge comms prepare it to penetrate contested zones and deliver rapid, decisive strikes before the opposition can recover.
Challenges aside. The Navy timeline for incorporating hypersonics in the Zumwalt class has already fallen behind in testing and evaluation. As cited, “the Navy has yet to identify test conditions and associated resources needed to fully assess lethality and operational effectiveness in contested environments.”
The class has three ships, all with distinct systems, which makes maintenance and upgrading costly and complicated. And there is also the attempt at standardizing combat and radar systems for easier maintenance.
It is all proceeding in spite of these challenges. USS Zumwalt finished a 14-month refit with its hypersonic launchers included and back out to sea. USS Lyndon B. Johnson is entering service with hypersonic capability as an initial fit, and USS Michael Monsoor will have the upgrade in a later modernization cycle. Budget proposals vow a commitment to equipping all three ships with hypersonics within the decade.
Long the subject of derision as the symbol of overthinking, the Zumwalt-class destroyers may finally get their chance. By embracing the latest strike capability and resetting what a surface combatant can do today, the Navy is betting these radar-thieving behemoths will be the foundation for 21st-century naval presence.