Navy to Get Second Stealth Destroyer This Month
Kris Osborn
Security, North America
The U.S. Navy is finally getting another Zumwalt.
Much like the lead Zumwalt-class ship, the 2nd is envisioned as a stealthy, multi-mission land and blue-water attack platform armed with long-range precision fires, a wide range of offensive and defensive missiles, faster computer processing speed and an electric drive Integrated Propulsion System with 78-megawatts of on-board electrical power.
Beneath the highly visible shadow of the now commissioned first-in-class stealthy USS Zumwalt destroyer, the Navy has been quietly making rapid progress with its second Zumwalt-class destroyer – the soon-to-be USS Michael Monsoor – slated for HM&E delivery this month, service officials said.
The ship, called DDG 1001, is now 99-percent complete and recently completed acceptance trails in early February. Hull, Mechanical & Electrical delivery is slated for April 24 - as a key step toward ultimately reaching operational status, according to information provided April 10 at the Navy's annual Sea Air Space Symposium, by Capt. Kevin Smith, Zumwalt program manager.
The upcoming HM&E delivery follows Navy reports of successful acceptance trials for DDG 1001 during which the ship tested power propulsion systems and high-speed turns while also assessing the HM&E engineering systems, according to a statement from General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.
Much like the lead Zumwalt-class ship, the 2nd is envisioned as a stealthy, multi-mission land and blue-water attack platform armed with long-range precision fires, a wide range of offensive and defensive missiles, faster computer processing speed and an electric drive Integrated Propulsion System with 78-megawatts of on-board electrical power.
Using the same technical baseline, ship specs and weapons system as the first Zumwalt, the Monsoor is being engineered with a computer system specifically designed to accommodate software upgrades as new technologies emerge.
The ship computer, called Total Ship Computing Environment, integrates many of the ship’s systems such as its radar, weapons and propulsion apparatus. Software upgrades impacting radar, fire control and some weapons areas represent some potential margins of difference making the ships more advanced. Accordingly, both the first and second Zumwalt will likely have some new systems by the time the Mansoor sets sail, Navy developers have explained.
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