The USA’s DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class Program: Dead Aim, Or Dead End?

DID’s FOCUS Article for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class “destroyer” program covers the new ships’ capabilities and technologies, key controversies, associated contracts and costs, and related background resources.

The ship’s prime missions are to provide naval gunfire support, and next-generation air defense, in near-shore areas where other large ships hesitate to tread. There has even been talk of using it as an anchor for action groups of stealthy Littoral Combat Ships and submarines, owing to its design for very low radar, infrared, and acoustic signatures. The estimated 14,500t (battlecruiser size) Zumwalt Class will be fully multi-role, however, with undersea warfare, anti-ship, and long-range attack roles. That makes the DDG-1000 suitable for another role – as a “hidden ace card,” using its overall stealth to create uncertainty for enemy forces.

At over $3 billion per ship for construction alone, however, the program faced significant obstacles if it wanted to avoid fulfilling former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter’s fears for the fleet. From the outset, DID has noted that the Zumwalt Class might face the same fate as the ultra-sophisticated, ultra-expensive SSN-21 Seawolf Class submarines. That appears to have come true, with news of the program’s truncation to just 3 ships. Meanwhile, production continues.

Zumwalt Class: Program and Participants

Program History: The Long and Winding Road

DDG-1000 Key Technologies and Features

Sensors

Weapons

Propulsion

DDG-1000 Issues and Controversies

Zumwalt Class: Contracts and Key Events

FY 2014 – 2020

FY 2013

FY 2012

FY 2011

FY 2010

FY 2009

FY 2008

FY 2007

FY 2006

FY 2005

FY 1998 – 2004

Additional Readings & Sources

Official Reports

News & Views

2006 Schedule
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DDG-1000: key features
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Anyone else firing?
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Critical tech & status
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Plan B?
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Tumblehome hull
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SSN-21: shared fate?

DDG-1000 vs. DDG-51/2A
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Float-out
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November 8/21: Engineering Efforts Raytheon won a $48.2 million contract modification to exercise options for DDG 1000 class engineering support, material and other direct costs in support of the engineering efforts. Developed under the DD(X) destroyer program, the Zumwalt class destroyer (DDG 1000) is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission surface combatants tailored for land attack and littoral dominance with capabilities that defeat current and projected threats. Work will take place in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Expected completion date is in May 2022.

September 1/21: Sea Trials The US Navy has sent its third and final ship Zumwalt Class destroyer off to sea trials, its maker, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, announced. The USS Lyndon B. Johnson, christened in April 2019, left the Bath Iron Works shipyard on Friday and is expected to be commissioned by the Navy in 2023, after its combat systems are fully installed and activated.

December 22/20: Planning Yard Efforts General Dynamics Bath Iron Works won a $23.9 million contract modification to exercise options for the accomplishment of planning yard efforts such as engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for DDG-1000 class destroyers post-delivery and in-service life-cycle support. The Zumwalt Class is the largest and most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world. Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power from the sea. Work will take place in Maine and California. Estimated completion will be by December 2021.

November 9/20: Funding Raytheon won a $94 million deal to exercise options and realign funding for DDG 1000 ship class integrated logistics support and engineering services. The Zumwalt Class is a class of three guided missile destroyers. The multi-role class was designed for secondary roles of surface warfare and anti-aircraft warfare. DDG 1000 Zumwalt was the first vessel built under the US Department of Defense’s DD(X) programme. The US Navy received the vessel in May 2016. The ship was commissioned for service in October 2016. According to Raytheon, Zumwalt Class ships are designed to incorporate computing, undersea warfare, vertical launcher and electronic modular enclosure systems from Raytheon Technologies’ missiles and defense business. Work will take place in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California, Indiana, Maine and New Hampshire. Work is expected to be finished by October 2021.

Cost changes
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Deckhouse build
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DDG 1000 Ultrablock
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BIW builds a Section
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DDG-1000 concept
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Zumwalt model

1/4 scale model, testing

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DDG-1000: night moves…
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Zumwalt concept: inshore

DD (X) Destroyer

AGS fires LRLAP
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