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The Command of the US Navy has thought about further modernization of the Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers, which were planned to be equipped with hypersonic missiles. This is reported by The Drive, which refers to the speech of the commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Navy (PACFLT) Admiral Samuel Paparo.
On August 1, 2022, the destroyer Zumwalt, leaving the home port of San Diego, headed for patrolling East Asia. The ship was in the waters of the Pacific Ocean for three months, after which - on November 10 - it returned to the place of permanent deployment. Commenting on the destroyer's Pacific cruise, Admiral Paparo noted that the Navy learned a lot from watching the Zumwalt cruise.
As you know, Zumwalt is the first of three ships belonging to this class of destroyers-"invisible". Other ships of this class are the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG–1001) and the USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002), which is scheduled to be commissioned around 2023.
The goal of the Zumwalt program was to realize the long-standing dreams of the naval command. First of all, we are talking about providing powerful fire support for actions on the shore. Now they want to equip ships of this class with hypersonic missiles in the future. However, the implementation of this task involves the search for free space on the ship to accommodate these missiles.
Now there is not so much space on the destroyer for this purpose, so the Navy plans to install special vertical launch missile systems with cells of suitable dimensions. Earlier, the fleet command has repeatedly stated that in the process of integrating missiles, the destroyer will lose both of its guns.
In 2023, the destroyer is scheduled to go to dry dock for 18 months of maintenance. It is planned to equip it with hypersonic missiles. The Zumwalt-class destroyers will be the first Navy platform to host such missiles, which will simultaneously help focus the overall revised mission of this class, writes The Drive.
Admiral Paparo emphasized.
The words of the commander of the Pacific Fleet indicate that the Navy has somewhat changed its view of the nature of the "invisible" destroyer. However, it will take more than an impressive amount of money to achieve these goals. However, in the conditions of further deterioration of relations with China and the prospective aggravation of the situation in the Pacific region, Congress may well agree with the requests of the naval command. This is despite the fact that each such destroyer has already cost the US budget more than $ 4 billion.
A week after the destroyer's return from a long voyage, the Navy published a preliminary request for information to analyze proposals for improving the ship under the Zumwalt Enterprise Upgrade Solution (ZEUS) program. This request says, among other things, about the possible installation of new electronic warfare systems on the ship.
Close attention to the destroyer Zumwalt is also explained by the fact that the ship will operate in the Pacific Ocean. It is the Asia-Pacific region that the Pentagon considers as a potential battlefield in the event of a confrontation with China.
