USS Zumwalt to be retrofitted with hypersonic missiles

“To the crew and families of the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), we would like to extend the warmest welcome to the newest members of our shipyard community. It is an honor for us to serve you and the Navy by doing this important work,” Ingalls president Kari Wilkinson said in another statement.

The warship weighing 16,000 tons, docked at Ingalls Shipbuilding to replace the 155mm Advanced Gun Systems twin with four 87-inch missile tubes. Each tube will hold three Common Hypersonic Glide Bodies (C-HGB) for twelve missiles on the ship. C-HGB is a hypersonic missile developed jointly by the US Army and Navy.

The Department of Defense is developing multiple conventional prompt strike platforms like the C-HGB to target any location in the world without warning. Additionally, the Navy intends to upgrade USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) and USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) at Ingalls. The former is in San Diego, while the latter is undergoing combat system installation and activation at the yard.

The Navy originally planned to deploy the destroyer with the Long-Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) to support troops ashore. Still, the cost of the rounds became unaffordable when the class was reduced to three ships. To this end, the Navy has decided to install hypersonic weapons on USS Zumwalt and shifted its focus from close to shore to blue water. “We’re talking about deploying this system on DDG-1000 in 2025, that’s three years from now,” Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe, the head of the Navy’s strategic systems programs, told reporters at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium in November 2022.

Tubes, no missiles

However, there are doubts about whether the missiles will be ready to be installed once the works are complete. “The CPS program office noted that significant scope and challenges associated with the first-time integration of CPS may present risks to achieving DDG 1000’s installation schedule. In reviewing CPS program office information on critical technologies, we found that significant work remains for the program to demonstrate technology maturity,” reads a Government Accountability Office report released in June.

“If the hypersonic weapon is not ready for integration on the DDG 1000 at the time of the aforementioned maintenance period, the Navy may have to extend the duration of the planned maintenance period or wait for the next scheduled period to incorporate the system on the ship," the report adds.