I’m actually a fan of the Zumwalt, but it’s becoming hard to maintain that status. It has no ammo for its guns — so it has lost it’s primary mission — and now it has broken down and needs a tow. Perhaps it’s still going through a shake-out, but I think it’s off to a poor start.
I still cannot picture that hull in seas over 10ft!! All I can picture is it snuffing its nose on each dip!! I think this ship was for show only.
It looks like a very *techy* ship.
I love technology, especially when it works.
Not so long ago, we were trashing The Russia carrier Admiral Kuznetsov passing around the UK. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The Russian navy knows how to handle such problems.
They simply have a tugboat escort for every ship that leaves port.
Perhaps it should be renamed the USS Hillary Clinton.
The navy is spending $2 billion for 200,000 rounds of the GPS-guided, rocket-powered projectiles, but it can also fire other kinds of rounds.
...and now it has broken down and needs a tow.
It's also first in its class and has teething pains. They will be worked out over time.
Make that 2,000 rounds of rocket-powers ammunition. A bit early for math.
This monstrosity will never be a functional Ship as long as it can’t afford ammo or stay afloat. OVER PRICED FUBAR!
Hubby spent 20 yrs in the Navy, and does not have a high opinion of it. His main words are worthless FUBAR when you mention it or the F-35!
The Navy has a recent history of trying to pack too much new technology into lead ships of a new class. Zumwalt is a case in point; so are the problem-plagued Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and to a lesser extent, the Ford-class aircraft carrier. When everything works right, it’s a world-beater, but when problems arise, it’s time to break out the tow lines, or in the case of the Zumwalt’s deck gun, sigh and wonder what might have been, if each round didn’t cost more than $1 million.
But there is a ray of sunshine in all of this. Two decades ago, the Navy realized the Seawolf-class SSNs were going to be too expensive and they had their own teething problems. So the best elements of Seawolf were integrated into the Virginia-class boats, which have proven to be an excellent design, and a worthy successor to the Los Angeles-class subs.
Hopefully, technology that works from Zumwalt can be integrated into the advanced DDGs and CGs that will serve with the fleet well into this century. As for LCS, I’m less optimistic. We decided that frigates were obsolete and tried to create a new platform with a troubled engineering/operational history and limited operational capabilities.