There larger war ship of the US Navy is the Zumwalt class destroyer: It is a technologically avant -garde medium, whose most particular feature is the so -called hull tutrohomeparticularly difficult to identify by the enemies radar also thanks to its particular square superstructure. Initially the project provided 32 units But, given the high production costs, the number has been reduced first to 24, then a 7 and finally a 3. There DDG – 1000 Zumwaltthe first of the boats made, was launched October 28, 2013 and delivered the October 15, 2016while the following two (i.e. 1001 and 1002) were both delivered in 2018.
The characteristics of the Zumwalt class
This ship measures 185.9 meters length for 24.7 width e 21 of height from the floating line. Can reach a maximum speed of 32 knots (about 60 km/h) but only for short durations, while in economic cruise mode he travels a 14 knots (c.ca 26 km/h) with an autonomy of beyond 11 thousand km. It is an extremely advanced vehicle from the point of view of automation and for this reason the on -board staff is alone 175 people, A value halved compared to other spinners of the fleet. The most particular feature of the boat is his Low visibility to radar. The particular shape of the hull and the presence of composite materials are able to Reduce your radar sectionmanaging to better conceal their presence – especially to medium and high frequencies radars.
As for the armament, the ship has not only 12 launch sites for hypersonic missiles, but also 12 quadruple launch modules on the front e 8 on the rear onefor a total of 80 launch wells usable with a wide range of missiles. Currently the ship is mainly used as a platform for the launch of hypersonic missiles, but at first it was designed to offer support in the attack on the mainland: this is testified by the presence of two towers capable of shooting 8 shots in less than 45 seconds.
Criticisms of the project
If, on the one hand, it is an extremely advanced boat from the point of view stealth And technological, on the other it is a means whose cost has made a lot of discussion. Each unit should have had a cost equal to 3.8 billion dollars (in line with other similar means) but in reality the entire project overall seems to have exceeded 26 billion dollars. This means that each of the 3 boats cost More than 8 billion dollarsmaking it this class of destroyers one of the most expensive ever made. Another criticism is that relating to the stability of the ship, given that its particular form designed to optimize the stealth could make it unstable in case of very agitated sea, going to reduce its performance heavily.
