Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The US Navy's Zumwalt-Class Stealth Destroyer Is Being Redesign

Reuters

National Interest: FIRE! The Zumwalt-Class Stealth Destroyer Is Getting a Big Redesign

The old concept already costed $22 billion.

In January 2019, the Navy will commission its second hi-tech Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer, the USS Michael Monsoor. The third and last, USS Lyndon B. Johnson was launched this December 2018 and will be commissioned in 2022.

Traditionally, warships are tailored to perform specific missions. But the cutting-edge Zumwalt has been a ship in search of a mission, especially since procurement of hyper-expensive ammunition for its primary weapon system was canceled. Years and billions of dollars later, the Navy may finally have found one.

In the post-Cold War 1990s, the U.S Navy lacked peer competitors on the high seas, so it conceived its next-generation surface combatants for engaging coastal targets. As the Navy phased out its last battleship, it decided its next destroyer should mount long-range guns that could to provide more cost-efficient naval gunfire support than launching million-dollar Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: In terms of costs and failure to deliver this is easily one of the worse US Navy programs in its history.

1 comment:

Bob Huntley said...

If they keep doubling down eventually they will get it right.