The main focus of the US Navy’s research and development is on hypersonic missiles capable of exceeding the speed of sound. Initially intended for launch from cruise-missile submarines, there are future plans to expand their use to other naval ships. However, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday has shared that the Navy’s first deployment of hypersonic missiles will be on Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers.
What is a hypersonic missile?
The Navy categorizes the hypersonic missile as a “conventional prompt strike weapon,” using a standard hypersonic glide body developed in collaboration with the US Army. This body, housing the warhead, is propelled into flight by a conventional rocket booster. After detachment, the missile continues its trajectory toward the target.
While maintaining a constant speed, it retains its maneuverability.
The maneuverability is what makes hypersonic missiles so dangerous
This maneuvering capability, rather than its ability to exceed Mach 5, presents a challenge for defense systems, as all current defensive measures are not tailored to counter such missiles. This specific characteristic has elevated hypersonic missiles to a focal point of competition among the United States, Russia and China.
What is the Zumwalt-class of guided-missile destroyers?
The Zumwalt-class of guided-missile destroyers consists of just three ships: the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) and the upcoming Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002). The lead ship was first delivered to the Navy in May 2016 and commissioned a few months later.
The guided-missile destroyers were designed by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, and Raytheon Company served as the systems integrator. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems Land and Armament, and Boeing worked on the project as well.
The Navy is waiting on hypersonic missile development
The Zumwalt-class ships are designed specifically for operations in shallow coastal waters. As a result, the Navy is equipping them to be effective platforms for blue-water surface warfare and naval strikes. Originally, their main weapon was intended to be the Advanced Gun System, equipped with a pair of 155 mm guns that could fire Long Range Land Attack Projectiles. However, the reduction of the Zumwalt-class fleet to just three ships led to a significant increase in the price per shell, reaching nearly $1 million each, causing the Navy to reconsider its initial plans.
Currently, the Navy faces key challenges such as the incomplete development of hypersonic missiles and the limited size of the vertical-launch-system cells on Zumwalt-class destroyers, which prevents them from accommodating the new missiles.
The Virginia-class submarines may be next
In the middle of March 2021, the Navy solicited defense industry partners for ways to reconfigure the Zumwalt-class vessels, so they could handle the new hypersonic missiles. In the solicitation, they requested an advanced payload module that could carry the missiles in a “three-pack configuration.”
Gilday also mentioned that the Navy is looking for ways to use the power-generating abilities of the Zumwalt-class to use direct-energy weapons as a defense against emerging threats.
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After outfitting the Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers with the hypersonic missiles, the Navy plans to add the weapons to their Virginia-class submarines. The goal is to have the missiles on the former by 2025.