American Zumwalt Stealth Destroyer Fires First Ever Missile

The U.S. Navy has carried out the first ever missile launch from a Zumwalt Class stealth destroyer, firing a Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) from one of the ship’s vertical launch cells. The Zumwalt has been one of the controversial warship programs in U.S. history, rivalled only by the Littoral Class Combat ship program in the post-Cold War years, with multiple performance issues ranging from its sensors to its propulsion systems and weapons leading the Navy to cancel over 90% of planned orders - leaving it with a costly fleet of just three ships. The program is over six years behind schedule, and the ships cost over $8 billion each at the latest estimate. Zumwalt Class destroyers are already the most costly warships in the world, with the exception of the U.S. Navy’s Gerald Ford Class supercarriers which are around six times as large, and their costs are expected to rise further with the destroyers still not fully combat ready and expected to receive costly new radars before entering frontline service. The first destroyer in the class, USS Zumwalt, fired the first SM-2 missile on October 21st, nine years after it was laid down, and used a unique variant of the missile known as the SM-2 Block IIIAZ. The unique radar system of the Zumwalt Class ship requires it to use this tailor made variant of the missile. 

The Navy announced that the SM-2 successfully intercepted a mock target simulating the capabilities of an an anti-ship cruise missile, with the Zumwalt program manager Navy Captain Matt Schroeder stating regarding its implications: “Today’s successful test not only demonstrates the ship’s capability to fire missiles and conduct self-defense, it is also a significant step toward more advanced combat system testing and operations for our Navy’s most technically innovative warship... The USS Zumwalt crew and Surface Development Squadron One are working hand-in-hand with the acquisition community to advance this ship’s operational capability." Captain Gary Cave, the destroyer's commanding officer, added regarding the test’s importance: “Today’s successful firing event is a critical milestone in the maturation of this incredible ship class and represents the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and partnership of Zumwalt’s talented crew and the engineers, designers, and programmers helping us to bring her capabilities to the Fleet... it is a day we’ve been looking forward to and demonstrates the strides we are taking to add combat capability to our surface force."

While its primary armament, which was set to be comprised of two Advanced Gun Systems to provide an advanced shore bombardment capability, has been removed due to technical issues, each Zumwalt Class destroyer deploys eighty vertical launch cells for surface to air and cruise missiles. This is a relatively modest payload given the ship’s massive displacement, and is less than the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke Class destroyers or Chinese Type 055 Class destroyers despite both of these rival ships being considerably smaller. Missiles these launch cells will be equipped to fire include the SM-2 Block IIIAZ, the shorter ranged RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and the Block IV Tactical Tomahawk land attack cruise missile, leaving Zumwalt Class ships without an anti-shipping capability. The ship’s firepower could improve substantially if unverified reports regarding integration of the Block V Maritime Strike Tomahawk anti ship missile and the SM-6 anti ballistic missile are true. A number of reports have also indicated that the Zumwalt could be repurposed entirely into a strategic warship and deploy intercontinental range ballistic missiles instead of cruise or surface to air missiles.