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Zumwalt-class destroyer

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Concept drawning for USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), the lead ship of the DD(X) class.

The DD(X) is a future class of United States Navy destroyer, designed as a multi-mission ship with a focus on land attack. The lead ship will be named Zumwalt, for Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. Following Navy tradition, this will be called the Zumwalt class.

The United States Navy plans to utilize the DD(X) destroyer project as replacement for the Iowa and Wisconsin battleships, which were stricken from the US Navy list on March 17, 2006. Among U.S. warships in development, the DD(X) is to be preceded by the Littoral Combat Ship and followed by the CG(X) cruiser concurrent with the CVN-21 aircraft carrier. The DD(X) program resulted from large re-organization of the DD21 program when Congress cut its budget by over half (Part of the SC21 program of the 1990s).

Originally the Navy had hoped to build a total of 32 or these destroyers, then reduced that number to 24, before reducing it to a grand total of seven. The reason for this reduction is the high cost of several new and expiremental technologies which are set to be incorporated in the destroyer. The US House of Representatives remains skeptical of the DD(X) destroyer program for financial reasons, and has therefore alloted the Navy only enough money to begin construction on one DD(X) destroyer as a "technology demonstrator". The funding allocation for the DD(X) destroyer was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007.[1]

Design and Development

The DD(X) will feature: a low radar profile; an integrated power system, which can send electricity to the electric drive motors or weapons, which may someday include railguns; a total ship computing environment infrastructure (TSCE-I), serving as the ship's primary LAN and as the hardware-independent platform for all of the ship's software ensembles; automated fire-fighting systems and automated piping rupture isolation. It is being designed to require a smaller crew and be cheaper to operate than comparable warships. It will have a wave-piercing "tumblehome" hull form whose sides slope inward above the waterline. This will reduce the radar cross-section, returning much less energy than a more hard-angled hull form.

The DD(X) with planned features.

In late 2005, the program entered the detail design and integration phase, in which Raytheon is the lead program contractor and integrator. Both Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works share dual-lead for the hull, mechanical and electrical detail design. BAE has the advanced gun system and the MK57 VLS. Almost every major defense contractor, and sub-contractors from nearly every state in the US, are involved to some extent in this project, which is the largest single line item in the Navy's budget. During the previous contract, development and testing of 11 Engineering Development Models (EDMs) took place:

  • Advanced Gun System
  • Autonomic Fire Suppression System
  • Dual Band Radar [X-band and L-band]
  • Infrared
  • Integrated Deckhouse & Apertures
  • Integrated Power System
  • Integrated Undersea Warfare
  • Peripheral Vertical Launch System
  • Total Ship Computing Environment
  • Tumblehome Hull Form

Originally known as the DD-21, the class was renamed in 2001 when its acquisition program was reworked. DD-21 stood for "21st Century Destroyer." According to a Government Accountability Office report [1], milestones include:

  • Formal program launch, April 2002.
  • Preliminary design review, March 2004.
  • Lead ship authorized, March 2005.
  • Critical design review, August 2005.
  • Start fabrication, June 2007.
  • First ship launched, June 2012.

USS Hayler (DD-997) (1982) was the last Spruance-class destroyer, and DDG-112 (2010) is to be the last Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The Zumwalt's hull number will be DDG-1000.

Development

Press reports indicate that the DD(X) program may be deeply cut, or perhaps even canceled, due to budgets constraints brought about by the 2003 Iraq War and the ongoing effort to rebuild the United States Gulf Coast region following 2005's Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

The House of Representatives is against the DD(X) and has cut some funding, preferring to build another Arleigh Burke class destroyer and the new littoral combat ships. The Senate supports the DD(X) and continues to approve more funding.

It was reported on October 17, 2005, that an October 5 Pentagon report recommended "canceling the DD(X) destroyer being developed by Northrop Grumman Corp." Wired News

On November 23, the Defense Acquisition Board approved a plan for simultaneous construction of the first two DD(X) ships at Northrop’s Ingalls yard in Pascagoula, MS, and General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Bath, ME. However, as of that date, funding has yet to be authorized by Congress.

In late December 2005, the House and Senate agreed to continue funding the DD(X) program, however only seven of these ships will be built instead of the originally planned 23 to 30.

In April 2006 the first of the class was announced and will be named the ZUMWALT and carry the designator DDG 1000. The ship will be named to honor the former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr.

Controversy

Some Marines feel very strongly against replacing the battleships with the DD(X) destroyer [2]. The DD(X) destroyer is not slated to enter service until 2013 at the earliest, leaving a multi-year gap without any direct replacement for this loss of long-range seaborne artillery.

Specifications

  • Length: 600 ft (183 m)
  • Beam: 79.1 ft (24.1 m)
  • Draft: 27.6 ft (8.4 m)
  • Speed: 30.3 kt (56 km/h)
  • Displacement: 14,064 LT
  • Power: 78 MW, from 2 Rolls-Royce MT-30 gas turbines and emergency diesel generators.
  • Crew Size: 140
  • 2007 Cost per Unit: $3.291 Billion

Aircraft

Armament

  • 2 × 155 mm Advanced Gun System
  • 920 × 155 mm LRLAP rounds
  • 2 × 57 mm Mk110 Close-In Gun System
  • 80 × VLS cells, comprising twenty four-cell MK57 launcher modules
  • Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)
  • Tactical Tomahawk Block IV
  • Standard Missile 2 Block III (SM-2)
  • Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC)

Radar

  • SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR) [X-band, scanned array]
  • Volume Search Radar (VSR) [L-band, scanned array]


Trivia

Act of War: High Treason was the first RTS game to have DD[X] in the game, it serves the Task Force Talon as a destoyer.

Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics includes the DD[X], calling it the 'Zumwalt'.

The novel Choosers of the Slain by James H. Cobb features a futuristic destroyer similar to the DD[X] involved in a conflict with Argentinian forces.

References

  1. ^ Taken from the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007, pages 69 and 70
  2. ^ cnn.com Losing the Battleships
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