US Navy DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class

The multiple turret warship era has returned!!! Wow that is a ship straight out of a science fiction film.

Wonder if they are gonna install railguns when the technology is mature. My school's Electrical Engineering department devotes money to railgun research. Some of my friends actually know people who work there.

I wonder how long it will take other countries (and namely china) to utilize a similar design

Bltizo said:

^ what are the chances that they will get more funding? I mean the us only just managed to extend their debt ceiling now, and from the us's perspective the ddg-1000 (while a very capable vessel) might not be the best ship for a confrontation with china (air sea battle) -- it doesn't have procision for sm-3 (it seems?) and it might be wiser to divert funding for burke class flight 3?

Click to expand...

Actually with it peripheral mounted cells or VLS, this vessel will have at least 80 VLS cells and they will be capable of BMD.

As to cost, they will also have the money for the three for sure...and I believe as time goes on, and particularly as the US economy returns after the 2012 elections...that they will ultimately by more in the mid to late teens.

siegecrossbow said:

The multiple turret warship era has returned!!! Wow that is a ship straight out of a science fiction film.

Wonder if they are gonna install railguns when the technology is mature. My school's Electrical Engineering department devotes money to railgun research. Some of my friends actually know people who work there.

Click to expand...

Yes, rail guns are distinctly planned for. With their all electrical capabilities and the amount of electrical power they plan, they will look at the rail gun and the CIWS lasers utltimately on this vessel I believe. But the AGS will be very very good until then in any case and far better than current bombardment capabilities.

Well, it's been some time, but I have just come across an article reviewing the issues with this ship and comparing the ideas what that program actually is to the navy.
With keel laying of the first ship in Nov (to join the fleet in 2014), and contracts for two more ships awarded in Sept. the program is moving along. And quite smooth so far, it seems.
Now, also arguments pop up that while being more expensive to built than new Burkes, over the lifetimes of these ships, the navy would save money by opertating more DDG-1000s and less Flight III DDG-51s, due to lower operating costs. Another GAO study on that is due in Jan next year.
Especially incooperating BMD would require some refits to the design, but it's definitely looked at.

It's a bit longer, so to not clutter this up too much, the full article is at the link.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

DDG-1000: Back To The Future
Dec 28, 2011 - By Michael Fabey

The DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer brings out the split personality of U.S. Navy brass. Depending on which admiral is speaking on which day, the ship is either a science-project testbed or one of the most technologically advanced and needed destroyers for the fleet.

Analysts disagree about whether the ship is a joke, or potentially the Navy’s most valuable surface warship. And debate about the Zumwalt’s true worth to the fleet is heating up as the ship transitions from a PowerPoint presentation to vessel status. ...

Click to expand...

Jeff Head said:

They would have to replicate and beat the technology...and they believe it will take belligerent nations 50 years to do so. Time will tell.

Click to expand...

Who are belligerent nations ?, China included ? ... I'd bet China would make a better ship in way less than 50 years, but I wouldn't bet to eat my hat without salt though

50 years is a very long time, nobody even can predict 10 years from now, most predictions are wrong anyway. Some predictions seem correct because they didn't mention how many predictions they made are wrong. If you predict 100 things, of course one or two would be correct and then you boast your prediction/s are correct without mentioning the other 98 are wrong ... typical losers (I am not talking about you Jeff, you are an astute person)

Is it true the cost of this ship is US$6.6 B ... goooooosh only 25 countries have defence budget more than $6.6B, and no. 25 is Iran with only US$7B defense budget !

Scratch said:

Well, it's been some time, but I have just come across an article reviewing the issues with this ship and comparing the ideas what that program actually is to the navy.
With keel laying of the first ship in Nov (to join the fleet in 2014), and contracts for two more ships awarded in Sept. the program is moving along.

Click to expand...

The keel laying on Nov 17 was impressive as they rolled out that large section of the ship. Two other large sections are complete and being joined to that first one, and the deck house is well under construction.

She's coming together well for a launch in late 2012-early 2013.

Here are some new pictures from my page:

antiterror13 said:

Who are belligerent nations? China included?

Click to expand...

Those nations who get into actual military confrontation with the United States are the belligerent nations. Will that include China? I hope not...I am not saying it is. It will depend on how both nations act and treat one another, particularly when their interests conflict.

Given the technologies being implemented here...and given where the US and China are, it could easily take 2 or more decades before China fields such a vessel. Fielding and beating are two different things. With the head start the US will have, and with the design for growth and modernization built into these vessels, which like carriers are being built with a 40-50 year life span envisioned, catching up to the Zumnwalt's technology will be like hitting a moving target.

But, as I say, time will tell. 50 years is a long time...and I surely will not be around to worry about it. If they catch up and surpass it in 25 years I may still be around at 81 years old at that time. LOL!

antiterror13 said:

Is it true the cost of this ship is US$6.6 B ... goooooosh only 25 countries have defence budget more than $6.6B, and no. 25 is Iran with only US$7B defense budget !

Click to expand...

No. The Navy has negotiated a fixed cost contract for the three vessels. The first will be 3.5 billion, the second will be 2.5 billion, and the third close to 2 billion. The high cost is for developing all the cutting edge technologies and fielding them. Originally that was to be amoritized out over 30+ vessels and the cost would have come down significantly.

But when you do it over 3 vessels, it simply costs more and that is not the developer's or manufacturer's fault.

If the US built 12 of these, they could probably get the average cost of each down well below 2 billion, maybe to 1.75 or below.

Cool, they kinda look like the monitor and merrimac, it always amazes me that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Air Force Brat said:

Cool, they kinda look like the monitor and merrimac, it always amazes me that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Click to expand...

Here's a link to a GREAT video of the rollout of the second large section of the Zumwalt, DDG-1000.

This is a 4500 ton section being mated to the first 4000 ton section along with several smaller modules.

Very impressive. They now have about 9000 tons of the 14000 to vessel together. Supposed to launch later this year.

The video is worth watching, just go to the linked picture below, and then click on the 1st video there.:

what a ship this is, testimont to the capabilitys of Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding

but the price tag is way too excessive, you can get 6 Type 45 Destroyers for a single Zumwalt-class destroyer!

It's amusing how BIW's floating drydock comes from a shipyard in Shanghai, if memory serves correctly.