USS Zumwalt (first stealth destroyer) leaves dry dock

[EarthDog]

The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy began its sea trials yesterday.

The $4.3bn ship departed from shipbuilder Bath Iron Works in Maine and carefully navigated the winding Kennebec River before reaching the open ocean where the ship will undergo sea trials.

TOP SECRET VIDEO (on youtube)

The Zumwalt is the first of three ships in the class.

a top secret railgun video.

@Easy Rhino i am proud to be European and a friend to Americans and their stealthy "secret" stuff

LOL, it had to get towed back into port... OY.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10208640437117833

My personal favorite video of it

It's that loud? You'd think they would have tried to dampen that. The Freedom-class are probably just as loud, if not louder having the same engines and a much smaller frame.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

USS Zumwalt is too stealthy for safety.


The future USS Zumwalt is so stealthy that it'll go to sea with reflective material that can be hoisted to make it more visible to other ships.

The Navy destroyer is designed to look like a much smaller vessel on radar, and it lived up to its billing during recent builder trials.

Lawrence Pye, a lobsterman, told The Associated Press that on his radar screen the 610-foot ship looked like a 40- to 50-foot fishing boat.

Despite its size, the warship is 50 times harder to detect than current destroyers thanks to its angular shape and other design features, and its stealth could improve even more once testing equipment is removed, said Capt. James Downey, program manager.

During sea trials last month, the Navy tested Zumwalt's radar signature with and without reflective material hoisted on its halyard, he said.

The goal was to get a better idea of exactly how stealthy the ship really is, Downey said from Washington, D.C.

The reflectors, which look like metal cylinders, have been used on other warships and will be standard issue on the Zumwalt and two sister ships for times when stealth becomes a liability and they want to be visible on radar, like times of fog or heavy ship traffic, he said.

 

[Fourstaff]

Sneaky fishing boat with railgun. I wonder what people 50 years ago would say.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Sneaky fishing boat with railgun. I wonder what people 50 years ago would say.

I want one?

 

[Ferrum Master]

I wonder how this thing is protected against small predator subs...?

An old sea wolf would scold someone about improperly using name boat instead of a ship. Marines really get angry about this . The only sea boats are the ones that sail under the water... others are usually made of rubber .

 

[FordGT90Concept]

It's a destroyer. It's primary role is anti-submarine warfare. For starters, it has a helicopter/drone deck for launching/recovering anti-submarine aircraft. Should they find a submarine that Zumwalt deems a threat, Zumwalt is packing anti-submarine missiles (a rocket that deploys a torpedo) to dispatch it from a over 10 miles away. If the submarine is on the surface, Zumwalt has a wide variety of tools to destroy it.

I'm sure Zumwalt is as difficult for submarines to detect as aircraft and ships.

 

[Ferrum Master]

It's a destroyer. It's primary role is anti-submarine warfare. For starters, it has a helicopter/drone deck for launching/recovering anti-submarine aircraft. Should they find a submarine that Zumwalt deems a threat, Zumwalt is packing anti-submarine missiles (a rocket that deploys a torpedo) to dispatch it from a over 10 miles away.

Yea... but still it can get a supercavitation torpedo that runs 300-400km/h in the belly... I really dunno how to stop these fishes... if a sub sits silent and waits for her prey... well... I really don't know if such stealth I mean the tax payer price for a such gimmick really pays off against such target... uboats are going stealth too... and they are really hard to detect. German type-212 armed with barracudas... I really cannot predict how effective it really is...

 

[FordGT90Concept]

The supercavitating torpedos only have a maximum range of 10 miles. As previously noted, the anti-submarine missiles have a range of 11 miles. The anti-submarine aircraft have a range in the hundreds of miles. USA's tactic is to kill submarines before they get close enough to be a threat.

Also, don't forget that Zumwalt will almost always be part of a carrier strike group which has aircraft of its own for anti-submarine purposes as well as a compliment of hunter-killer submarines that patrol the perimeter of the group.


The last time there was major submarine warfare (WWII), the U-Boats were made extinct due to anti-submarine aircraft and depth charges.

 

[Ferrum Master]

The last time there was major submarine warfare (WWII), the U-Boats were made extinct due to anti-submarine aircraft and depth charges.

Well... look up some NATO joint sea exercise results... exactly the small diesel subs had put in shame many sophisticated nuclear subs and destroyers... well... we all know that creating a shitload of unmanned subs that can wait in one place for years is easy... hope china wont realise the obvious lol.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

China doesn't have any nuclear submarines yet. They are building a lot of diesel submarines.

An idle submarine is harder to find than a moving submarine but it is still possible to detect.


The problem with drone submarines is communication. A Virginia-class submarine (135 crew) can be given orders and carry them out without surfacing for 90 days. On the other hand, a drone would likely have to resurface every night to download new directives via satellite. The act of communicating with the satellite could also give the location of the drone away. Not to mention the difference between humans making an attack decision versus a robot that hasn't talked to a human in 4+ hours.

All of that said, I think we will be seeing drone attack submarines as part of a carrier strike group and drone defense submarines as part of the Coast Guard in the next 20-30 years.


I'd like to see a Virginia submarine versus Zumwalt (both are brand-spanking new).

 

[dont whant to set it"']

"The Real Captain Kirk Takes Command of the Navy’s New $4 Billion Destroyer"
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/th...ion-destroyer/ar-BBtiaz3?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=iehp

 

[FordGT90Concept]

It'll be commissioned and unleashed on the world October 15:
http://usszumwalt.org/commissioning-2016/

The first ship in a new era of near undetectable, highly lethal, and multi-mission surface combat ships:

The only other ship that comes close in terms of technology is the Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers, the first of which should be commissioned later this year.

 

[BirdyNV]

Hmm. the Zumwalt will be a pain in the ass to maintain. (Also Subs are boats, and anything other is a Ship)

 

[BirdyNV]

This is a destroyer. What do destroyers hunt?

I'll give you a hint, it starts with an "S" (and is bolded above)

They can try (sub guy here)

 

[dorsetknob]

They Hunt this

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

USS Zumwalt, returns to dock after springing a leak


Naval Surface Forces Pacific spokesman John Perkins said crews on the USS Zumwalt found a seawater leak in its propulsion system earlier this week.

In a statement, Naval Surface Forces said Zumwalt has a “built-in redundancy” of the ship’s propulsion system that enables the ship to operate even with the leak in the lubricating system. However, it was determined that the repairs should be completed in port before the ship and crew continued with sea training.

“Repairs like these are not unusual in first-of-class ships during underway periods following construction,” the Navy said.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/22/the-zumwalt-has-sprung-a-leak/

 

[R-T-B]

They can try (sub guy here)

I did admit it was more applicable in WWII, you know as well as I do modern subs are a whole different ballpark I am sure...

 

[BirdyNV]

I did admit it was more applicable in WWII, you know as well as I do modern subs are a whole different ballpark I am sure...

I cannot confirm or deny this fact.

 

[dorsetknob]

They can try (sub guy here)

I cannot confirm or deny this fact.

As a self confessing submariner were you shown the golden Rivet Each Boat you served on has been Built with ?????

 

[Ungari]

That ship is larger than most Cruisers, and other than ASW it doesn't seem to have the multi-mission roles that have traditionally defined the Destroyer.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Destroyers are traditionally anti-ship and anti-submarine which it does. Cruisers are traditionally anti-aircraft platforms. Battleships were anti-surface. All US ships these days have long range missiles for anti-surface and anti-ship. Anti-submarine is Zumwalt's focus.

 

[BirdyNV]

As a self confessing submariner were you shown the golden Rivet Each Boat you served on has been Built with ?????

I am still in training. O.e is this one of those, "hey new guy, go collect exhaust fumes for testing!"

 

[64K]

As a self confessing submariner were you shown the golden Rivet Each Boat you served on has been Built with ?????

I had to Google that since I have never heard of that. Interesting if it's true. They would probably have to put the golden rivet somewhere where no one would ever see it or it would likely be dug out by someone.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

The last time there was major submarine warfare (WWII), the U-Boats were made extinct due to anti-submarine aircraft and depth charges.

A job that was made profoundly easier due to the British cracking the enigma code