The US Navy’s research and development initiatives are centered on hypersonic missiles—projectiles capable of traveling at speeds exceeding the sound barrier. Initially, the plan was to outfit cruise-missile submarines with these weapons first, followed by a phased introduction to other ships. However, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday announced a strategic adjustment, with the Navy now focusing on deploying hypersonic missiles on Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers as a priority.
The Navy describes the hypersonic missile as a conventional prompt strike weapon, equipped with a hypersonic glide body developed in collaboration with the US Army. This glide body, which carries the warhead, is launched using a conventional rocket booster. After the booster separates, the missile continues its path toward the target. Although it no longer accelerates, it maintains its capacity for maneuvering.
It is this maneuverability—rather than simply its ability to reach speeds exceeding Mach 5—that makes it particularly challenging to defend against, rendering current defense systems largely ineffective. As a result, hypersonic missiles have become a central focus of competition among the United States, Russia, and China.
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 Zumwalt-class are designed to operate in littoral waters, so the Navy is working to outfit them as blue-water surface warfare and naval-strike platforms. Their primary weapon was to be the Advanced Gun System, with its pair of 155 mm guns using Long Range Land Attack Projectiles. Reducing the number of Zumwalt-class ships to three raised the price per shell of ammunition to nearly $1 million per round, so the service was forced to reconsider its original plans.
The main issues the Navy faced before it could implement the plan were that the hypersonic missiles weren’t fully developed yet, and the vertical-launch-system cells on the Zumwalt-class destroyers weren’t large enough to hold the new missiles.
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.”
By August 2023, work had begun on the ships to replace the 155 mm guns with four 87-inch missile tubes, each capable of firing three Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) missiles. This new system will allow the vessels to hit targets around 1,724 miles away.
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.
The title ship in the class was the first to receive the hypersonic upgrade, which reportedly cost $155 million. Work is anticipated to be completed sometime in 2025.
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After outfitting all Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers with the hypersonic missiles, the Navy plans to add the weapons to its Virginia-class submarines. The goal is to have the missiles fully installed on the former by 2028.
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