NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. Navy’s stealthy new first-of-its kind destroyer surface warship will incinerate targets with lasers, fire advanced weapons to destroy moving targets at sea and use upgraded interceptor missiles to track and knock-out approaching enemy fire -- all as part of a broader strategic shift to prepare the high-tech ship for massive, “blue-water” maritime warfare on the open seas. Kris Osborn of Warrior Maven reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
16 May 2019 -- The USS Zumwalt, now going through combat and weapons activation, will receive new Maritime Tomahawk missiles able to track and destroy moving targets at sea, SM-6 IA interceptors, long-range precision guns and -- quite likely in the very near future -- laser weapons, says Capt. Kevin Smith. the Zumwalt-class destroyer program manager.
“We are no longer what is called a land attack that operates in the littorals. We are now an offensive surface strike platform for blue water. The Navy made a decision to go that way - for good reason,” Smith said, speaking at the Navy League’s Annual Sea Air Space Symposium in National Harbor, Md.
The Zumwalt, he said, is engineered with the space, weight, and power configurations able to accommodate a new generation of weapons. It uses an electric drive with an integrated power system engineered to propel the ship as well as generate enormous volumes of on-board electrical power for computing, maintenance, and advanced weapons like high-energy lasers.
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
