USS Zumwalt: Building the Future
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Like the admiral it is named after, this new addition to the US Navy ship challenges conventional wisdom. USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is the most advanced warship in the world and represents a great technological advancement in United States naval shipbuilding.
USS Zumwalt will increase the Navy’s ability to assure access anywhere, ensuring the nation’s ability to influence events through all phases of conflict. Built with an eye to life cycle cost reduction, the ship will be able to affordably keep pace with the threat faced by our future Navy.
Admiral Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr. was the 19th Chief of Naval Operations from 1970 to 1974 and the youngest man to serve as the Navy’s top-ranking officer. He recently told navylive.com that the first of three DDG 1000 stealth destroyers, the 610 foot long USS Zumwalt, will perform traditional sea control missions and project power ashore.
From the ship’s new striking tumblehome hull – designed to “pierce” waves and be less visible to enemy radar – to the ship’s Integrated Power System, USS Zumwalt – the largest destroyer the U.S. Navy has ever built – is armed with numerous advanced technology and survivability systems designed to combat the threats of today as well as those of coming decades.
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Equipped with an Integrated Power System, the Advanced Gun System, SPY-3 radar and MK 57 launcher, USS Zumwalt will enable the Navy’s dominance on the seas for decades in the future.
Integrated Power System is an all-electric power plant that generates the ship’s total distributable electric power while also converting this power for all ship loads, including propulsion, combat systems and ship services. This advanced power plant provides up to 78 megawatts of power, enough electricity to power about 47,000 American homes.
Building to the future, USS Zumwalt has some flexibility and modularity attributes. Its impressive capacity to generate power makes the ship the perfect platform for future deployment of railgun and laser weapons. USS Zumwalt has the space and extra power available to accommodate these future weapon systems when they become available to the fleet.
The Advanced Gun System is a unique weapon system that can fire a 155 millimeter Long Range Land Attack Projectile with ranges to 70 miles, allowing the surface fleet to provide unprecedented ranges and accurate fire support to the Marines, the Army and Special Operations Forces ashore.
The SPY-3 radar is an advanced anti-ship cruise missile/periscope detection radar and excels in the very challenging radar environment close to land. With high-accuracy, narrow beam width and wide frequency bandwidth, SPY-3 executes discrimination of low-altitude targets and target illumination for SM-2 and Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles.
