The First Tour of the USS Zumwalt Reveals a Stealth Ship That's Right on Track

A reporter for Defense News is the first to spend time on the USS Zumwalt as it conducted builders trials off the coast of Maine. The 610 foot long, 16,000 ton stealth destroyer, the first of her class, is undergoing extra testing before delivery to the U.S. Navy.

The Zumwalt's iconic slab-sided profile, in which no radar antennas, weapons or masts are visible, reduces the ship's radar cross-section. Although most recent U.S. Navy surface ships incorporate some level of stealth, Zumwalt is by far the stealthiest. This has meant some pretty dramatic departures in warship design, which veteran reporter Christopher Cavas takes note of.

One of the reasons why the ship is so large-up to fifty percent larger than the previous Arleigh Burke-class destroyers-is that everything has to be hidden from radar. Despite Zumwalt's unarmed appearance the ship packs two 155-millimeter long-range guns and 80 missile silos. Although the ship can carry out most missions, including anti-air, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, it will be particularly adept at smashing targets on the ground with its two guns. For now however, the Zumwalt's weapons are currently inactive and isn't carrying any missiles.

Just facing reality. The electronics revolution has made virtually any floating entity definable. Any man made object that goes to sea generates a distinct electronic fingerprint from the inherent radiation it generates. It is not that difficult to identify those “broadcasts” by satellite or surveillance aircraft and identify the exact location of those ships. You can try to shield of fool the monitors but in the end those ships will be located precisely.There are many other ways to locate these ships. Stealthy drones are only one form or ordnance that can be used to destroy them. On a modern battlefield, if you can be seen, sensed or heard, you cannot survive.

Morrison had the classic insight that a great navy, controls the seas, projects power and ultimately wins wars. However the thinking in naval circles now should be “Is a great navy in modern times still tactically possible to sustain?” Technology very well may have made large surface task forces obsolete. This has already affected policy.

For instance. Little has been written about the strategic realities Obama faced when dealing with Iran. A key component of the military coercive pressure on Iran was the assembly of massive American firepower in the Persian Gulf. At times two big carriers and their escorts patrolled very close to Iran. However the Iranians fortified the Persian Gulf with state of the art Chinese made shore to ship missiles. The Chinese developed these missiles ( the guidance system courtesy of the Clinton administration), to clear the Taiwan Strait of hostile naval elements in the event of war with the ROC. Those big blue water ships of the US Navy in the shallow narrow Persian Gulf, faced a debacle worse than Pearl Harbor in less than fifteen minutes if shooting started. Those that argued that the ships defensive weapons could stop over 400 incoming missiles with a flight time of less than 30 seconds were delusional. Obama was right to disengage from the Gulf. American battle fleets far from home will be subject to compatible lethal dangers.

Thanks for your post.

Carry your line of thinking a step further, and we can do away with the Army with its tanks and other vehicles. Easy pickings from the air. No need for the Army or Navy (with the exception of its submarines) and its Marine Corps, all easy targets on land and sea, all we need is an Air Force. Right?

Sorry, I don’t buy it. All that high tech stuff doesn’t preclude boots on the ground, ships at sea.

My point is that the modern battlefield between two technologically sophisticated combatants on land, sea and the air will be an unimaginable, heretofore never seen horror. In 1910 no one thought the carnage of the Civil War would ever be repeated. eg 50,000 dead at Antietam in little more than a day. Then Europeans discovered what the new technology of the day wrought, machine guns, airplanes and tanks. Millions died. WW II even worse. Today’s electronics, satellites, precision targeting, drones, missiles, lasers etc will result in horrors that few now imagine. Simply hope there will never be such a conflict.

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