Navy now has stealth destroyer

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says now we can sneak up onna Russkie an' Chinamens submarines...

Bigger, Lighter, Deadlier! Navy launches new stealth destroyer
October 29th, 2013 - The Navy's newest warship slipped out of dry dock this week into the waters of Maine, marking a new era for war fighting at sea.

The USS Zumwalt, the first of the DDG-1000 class of destroyers, is longer, faster and carries state-of-the-art weapons that will allow it to destroy targets at more than 60 miles, according to the Navy. At 610 feet long and 81 feet wide, the Zumwalt is longer and thinner than the USS Arizona, a battleship sunk at Pearl Harbor. But it weighs about half as much. Much of the ship's superstructure is wrapped in a huge, canopy made of lightweight carbon fiber composite.

The canopy and the rest of the ship is built on angles that help make it 50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer. "It has the radar cross-section of a fishing boat," said Chris Johnson a spokesperson for Naval Sea Systems Command. The Navy had planned to spend up to $9 billion in research and development on the DDG-1000 program and up to $20 billion to design and deliver seven ships. But cost overruns cut production to three ships. When it begins missions, the Zumwalt will be the largest stealthy ship in the Navy.

Coming out of dry dock at Bath Iron Works in Maine does not mean the ship is ready to put to sea. The shipbuilder will now begin installing a considerable arsenal of weapons, including two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS), which can fire rocket powered, computer-guided shells that can destroy targets 63 miles away. That's three times farther than ordinary destroyer guns can fire. The DDX will go to sea with a crew of about 150 as opposed to current destroyers which carry a crew of 275. One reason is the AGS is practically self-firing. It needs no sailors to load the shells or remove the spent rounds.

The Zumwalt will also be equipped with a new missile launching system capable of firing 80 missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Seasparrow surface to air missiles. Finally it will be able to carry and launch two Seahawk helicopters or four unmanned aerial vehicle. Its christening had been been scheduled for last month, but the government shutdown forced the Navy to cancel the ceremony. It's expected to be rescheduled next spring. The shipbuilder, plans to finish construction and turn the ship over to the Navy next year.

Bigger, Lighter, Deadlier! Navy launches new stealth destroyer – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

See also:

Pentagon on Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet order: Never mind
November 1, 2013 ~ The day after media outlets reported that the Navy had begun the process of soliciting bids for another 36 F/A-18 Super Hornets, Navy officials apparently changed their minds.

A notice on a federal procurement website that the Naval Air Systems Command intended to negotiate a contract for up to 36 more of the St. Louis-built fighter jets was canceled Thursday, about two weeks after it was posted and just a day after it was widely reported in defense industry trade publications. A spokeswoman for the Naval Air Systems Command did not respond to questions asking why.

The “pre-solicitation notice” — a preliminary step in the military contracting process — was seen as a sign that the Navy might be hedging its bets on an upcoming order for Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter, by keeping the door open to buy more F/A-18s instead.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf in this April 2007 photo.

Such an order would be a boon for St. Louis, where thousands of people work at Boeing Co. and its suppliers building the Super Hornet. Production on the F/A-18 will start to wind down next year; another 36 jets would sustain it for a year or more, and make it easier to land foreign order that might prolong assembly beyond that.

It’s not clear why the pre-solicitation notice was quietly posted or why it was suddenly taken down.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/pentagon-on-navy-s-f-a-18-super-hornet-order-never-mind-1.250640

 

[Mr. H.]

That's a cool boat.

 

[RKMBrown]

It looks like it's upside down and has a really fat keel.

 

[Mr. H.]

It looks like it's upside down and has a really fat keel.

Nah, that would be my mother in law.

P.S. apologies to any Navy folk here for referring to it as a boat.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

But, but, but I thought the government couldn't do anything right?

Uncle Ferd says now we can sneak up onna Russkie an' Chinamens submarines...

Bigger, Lighter, Deadlier! Navy launches new stealth destroyer
October 29th, 2013 - The Navy's newest warship slipped out of dry dock this week into the waters of Maine, marking a new era for war fighting at sea.

The USS Zumwalt, the first of the DDG-1000 class of destroyers, is longer, faster and carries state-of-the-art weapons that will allow it to destroy targets at more than 60 miles, according to the Navy. At 610 feet long and 81 feet wide, the Zumwalt is longer and thinner than the USS Arizona, a battleship sunk at Pearl Harbor. But it weighs about half as much. Much of the ship's superstructure is wrapped in a huge, canopy made of lightweight carbon fiber composite.

The canopy and the rest of the ship is built on angles that help make it 50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer. "It has the radar cross-section of a fishing boat," said Chris Johnson a spokesperson for Naval Sea Systems Command. The Navy had planned to spend up to $9 billion in research and development on the DDG-1000 program and up to $20 billion to design and deliver seven ships. But cost overruns cut production to three ships. When it begins missions, the Zumwalt will be the largest stealthy ship in the Navy.

Coming out of dry dock at Bath Iron Works in Maine does not mean the ship is ready to put to sea. The shipbuilder will now begin installing a considerable arsenal of weapons, including two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS), which can fire rocket powered, computer-guided shells that can destroy targets 63 miles away. That's three times farther than ordinary destroyer guns can fire. The DDX will go to sea with a crew of about 150 as opposed to current destroyers which carry a crew of 275. One reason is the AGS is practically self-firing. It needs no sailors to load the shells or remove the spent rounds.

The Zumwalt will also be equipped with a new missile launching system capable of firing 80 missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Seasparrow surface to air missiles. Finally it will be able to carry and launch two Seahawk helicopters or four unmanned aerial vehicle. Its christening had been been scheduled for last month, but the government shutdown forced the Navy to cancel the ceremony. It's expected to be rescheduled next spring. The shipbuilder, plans to finish construction and turn the ship over to the Navy next year.

Bigger, Lighter, Deadlier! Navy launches new stealth destroyer – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

See also:

Pentagon on Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet order: Never mind
November 1, 2013 ~ The day after media outlets reported that the Navy had begun the process of soliciting bids for another 36 F/A-18 Super Hornets, Navy officials apparently changed their minds.

A notice on a federal procurement website that the Naval Air Systems Command intended to negotiate a contract for up to 36 more of the St. Louis-built fighter jets was canceled Thursday, about two weeks after it was posted and just a day after it was widely reported in defense industry trade publications. A spokeswoman for the Naval Air Systems Command did not respond to questions asking why.

The “pre-solicitation notice” — a preliminary step in the military contracting process — was seen as a sign that the Navy might be hedging its bets on an upcoming order for Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter, by keeping the door open to buy more F/A-18s instead.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf in this April 2007 photo.

Such an order would be a boon for St. Louis, where thousands of people work at Boeing Co. and its suppliers building the Super Hornet. Production on the F/A-18 will start to wind down next year; another 36 jets would sustain it for a year or more, and make it easier to land foreign order that might prolong assembly beyond that.

It’s not clear why the pre-solicitation notice was quietly posted or why it was suddenly taken down.

Pentagon on Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet order: Never mind - U.S. - Stripes

 

[Politico]

Not completely stealth but damn close. At least until it starts deploying it's weapons systems.

 

[whitehall]

What "new era for war fighting at sea"? Are we still doing cold war stuff so those fat assed Pentagon warriors can relive the good old days? The last US Military casualties in an attack on a US Warship was by a plywood outboard.

 

[HenryBHough]

From Regime Obama, coming soon, a completely invisible destroyer!

You can't see it.

Radar can't see it.

You can't touch it.

Nobody has to be on board to sail it.

It costs Three Trillion Dollars.

But it's your money.

Now, how will you disprove that He got your money's worth?

 

[Mr. H.]

From Regime Obama, coming soon, a completely invisible destroyer!

You can't see it.

Radar can't see it.

You can't touch it.

Nobody has to be on board to sail it.

It costs Three Trillion Dollars.

But it's your money.

Now, how will you disprove that He got your money's worth?

Would that be the Health Destroyer?

 

[whitehall]

You almost gotta laugh that the Destroyer has the capability of destroying a small country but the administration will not allow a US Warship to fire on a bunch of hop-head teenage pirates. The Stealth Destroyer will prowl the seas for another quarter century and politicians will tell Americans that they are safe from an enemy amphibious assault on Long Beach California.

 

[Mr. H.]

Obama- all blow and no go.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I wish someone had told LBJ that, Whitehall.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Waiting for the conservatives to come into this thread to condemn the use of future missile strikes from this ship.

You're for hand to hand battle or you're not. Which is it?

 

[ScienceRocks]

From Regime Obama, coming soon, a completely invisible destroyer!

You can't see it.

Radar can't see it.

You can't touch it.

Nobody has to be on board to sail it.

It costs Three Trillion Dollars.

But it's your money.

Now, how will you disprove that He got your money's worth?

Bush gave the order.

 

[Mr. H.]

Waiting for the conservatives to come into this thread to condemn the use of future missile strikes from this ship.

You're for hand to hand battle or you're not. Which is it?

I hereby condemn the use of future missile strikes from this ship.

There... ya happy?

 

[Camp]

What "new era for war fighting at sea"? Are we still doing cold war stuff so those fat assed Pentagon warriors can relive the good old days? The last US Military casualties in an attack on a US Warship was by a plywood outboard.

There is this country that goes by the name of China. It has been investing in and building a navy made up of warships that could be a threat to our Navy and naval operations. This ship is part of our answer to those threats. We will out tech them the same way we out tech them and the Russian's with our air strike and air defense systems. With cruise missiles, carriers are becoming less important and needed. This ship is the future.

 

[whitehall]

Waiting for the conservatives to come into this thread to condemn the use of future missile strikes from this ship.

You're for hand to hand battle or you're not. Which is it?

Every war in the bloody 20th century started during a democrat administration. Isn't it time the libs caught on to the fact that liberal democrats are the war mongers?

 

[Mr Natural]

Waiting for the conservatives to come into this thread to condemn the use of future missile strikes from this ship.

You're for hand to hand battle or you're not. Which is it?

There's no glory in war unless soldiers are coming home in flag draped coffins.

 

[Rozman]

I'm sure the Libs hate the fact that we have a weapon that's better then the other guy.
They don't think that's "fair"....

 

[Alfalfa]

When does israel get one?