The newest American stealth destroyer of the Zumwalt type has returned to its native shipyard after a five-day voyage. Yesterday, September 3, the press service of the Bath Iron Works shipyard, which is part of the General Dynamics Corporation, reported that the USS Lyndon B. Johnson passed factory sea trials in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to the company's representatives, during the launch, the delivery team successfully demonstrated the operational capabilities of all the ship's systems. "This is an important day for us. The success of this stage brings us closer to the transfer of the ship to the US Navy, after which we will be able to focus again on increasing the pace of construction of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, " said Dirk Lesko, President of Bath Iron Works.
USS Lyndon B. Johnson returns from sea trials
Image source: gdbiw.com
The Zumwalt-class destroyers are the largest and most heavily armed ships in their class. The basic armament includes 80 missile launchers, two artillery launchers and two Mk. 110 57 mm anti-aircraft guns. The destroyer is equipped with a power plant capable of generating up to 78 MW of electricity — this amount of electricity is necessary for ships to power an electromagnetic gun (railgun) and combat lasers, which are planned to be installed on them later. At the same time, Lyndon B. Johnson differs from its predecessors (Zumwalt and Michael Monsoor): its stealth superstructure made of polymers was replaced with a steel one. This solution made it possible to significantly save on construction, but slightly increased the radar visibility of the ship.
