[Military Secondary Plane] Author: Pig Riding Knight
Destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) returned to the U.S. naval base in San Diego from the Western Pacific after completing its first operational deployment. The deployment began on 1 August, when the Zumwalt left its home port of Naval Base San Diego for East Asia for three months, culminating in its return to Naval Base San Diego on 10 November. Zumwalt first docked in Guam before heading to Japan and participated in training activities throughout the voyage, a deployment that validated the ship's ability to integrate with the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet.
▲The destroyer "Zumwalt" in the port of Yokosuka, Japan
During the deployment, USS Zumwalt was assigned to the 71st Destroyer Squadron, the Navy's largest forward-deployed surface ship squadron already stationed in Japan, the U.S. 7th Fleet's most dominant surface force, and the Zumwalt reportedly spent most of its deployment training in surface warfare. According to Defense News, the Zumwalt conducted simulated maritime fire strike training with U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The U.S. Navy plans to use its stealth capabilities, passive detection, integrated underwater unmanned underwater vehicles, surface drones and many other capabilities to use it as a global combat platform that can collect, sense, and perform rapid strikes in high-threat sea areas.
Of the three DDG-1000 destroyers, USS Zumwalt is the first, followed by USS Michael Monsour (DDG-1001) and USS Lyndon Johnson (DDG-1002), which is expected to enter service next year. ALL THREE DESTROYERS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO SURFACE DEVELOPMENT SQUADRON ONE (SURFDEVRON), AN EXPERIMENTAL NAVAL UNIT ESTABLISHED IN 2019 WITH UNMANNED SURFACE SHIPS IN ADDITION TO THREE DDG-1000 TYPE DESTROYERS. To assess the functions of the Zumwalt-class destroyers in the fleet in order to fully utilize the capabilities of each of these $9.1 billion destroyers, including R&D costs, the U.S. Navy created the First Surface Development Squadron.
The DDG-1000 was originally developed primarily to provide indirect fire support ashore, so the ship's main armament was two large 155mm Advanced Artillery Systems (AGS), which cost more than $800,000 per shell. Over time, this task became less realistic and important. Now it is replaced by more advanced weapons with a longer range - hypersonic missiles.
▲ The US Army's hypersonic boost-glide missile
The Navy runs the Conventional Rapid Strike (CPS) program, which plans to integrate 12 hypersonic boost-glide missiles into all three DDG-1000 destroyers. The biggest problem with the project is finding enough space on board to accommodate these missiles, as the existing Mk 57 vertical launch system on DDG-1000 destroyers is too small to accommodate hypersonic missiles. To solve this problem, the Navy plans to install a new large missile vertical launch system. According to official renderings of Lockheed Martin, the US Navy plans to dismantle one AGS naval gun and replace it with four large missile vertical launch system units, each capable of holding three missiles.
▲Modification effect imagination drawing
▲Modification plan
The Zumwalt will enter dry dock for 18 months of maintenance at the end of 2023, and the U.S. Navy hopes to integrate the system on the DDG-1000 and test it by 2025. The destroyer USS Zumwalt will be the first naval platform to deploy the missile. The range of the missile is at least 2800 km, which will make the DDG-1000 the longest strike range among surface ships of the Navy. The U.S. Navy also plans to equip Virginia-class Block V nuclear submarines with modified missiles, each equipped with four large vertical launch tubes that can carry four hypersonic missiles. The Army is also developing a ground-launched version of the missile, nicknamed the Black Hawk, which is expected to begin deployment next year.
There are currently only three DDG-1000s and have swallowed up huge amounts of money, but they are completely unable to meet current needs, and the US Navy has had to continue to invest heavily in upgrading it to improve its combat effectiveness and make it more suitable for the current high-threat environment. On November 17, just a week after the first deployment of the USS Zumwalt, the Naval Sea Systems Command issued a request for an industry upgrade solution (ZEUS) for the DDG-1000. Upgrades under consideration include the SEWIP electronic warfare system, the AN/SQQ-89 anti-submarine warfare system and the Cooperative Engagement Capability Network Package. The document says that "the impact on the top-level design should be minimized", which means that the main task of DDG-1000 will still be surface strikes,