USS Zumwalt (first stealth destroyer) leaves dry dock

[Fourstaff]

I'm not sure what you guys were doing, but I've seen carbon blocks used for testing.

I was under impression we need to propel this up to 100km away.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

They are amazing weapons, but the energy requirement is their downfall, and obviously is the main issue with making a portable handheld railgun.

Hence the 78MW gas turbines. I suspect they went with gas turbines and electric drives as opposed to direct-drive diesels because imagine those gas turbines running at low speed for normal operations and running at full bore when operating rail guns. They can run at whatever speed the ship requires at the time (unlike, say, nuclear reactors).

I don't know how quickly the rail guns are intended to fire but I could totally see them launching a 100 shells each in less than a minute, changing their trajectories so they all hit the target at the same time. If there's a high value target in said building, the odds of surviving are almost none. I'm sure the Navy wished they had that weapon system when they were hoping to kill Hussein before the Iraq war.

 

[RCoon]

Hence the 78MW gas turbines. I suspect they went with gas turbines and electric drives as opposed to direct-drive diesels because imagine those gas turbines running at low speed for normal operations and running at full bore when operating rail guns. They can run at whatever speed the ship requires at the time (unlike, say, nuclear reactors).

I don't know how quickly the rail guns are intended to fire but I could totally see them launching a 100 shells each in less than a minute, changing their trajectories so they all hit the target at the same time. If there's a high value target in said building, the odds of surviving are almost none. I'm sure the Navy wished they had that weapon system when they were hoping to kill Hussein before the Iraq war.

The issue most of the designers of DIY railguns have (i had the same problem) with rate of fire is the orientation of the projectiles, some opt for top loaded magazines(gravity helps), while others opt for springloaded bottom orientated magazines, and keeping the other projectiles from moving when the current is sent through the coil to fire the main projectile. Obviously billions of dollars have addressed this issue far better than I or other DIYers can, but I'd love to know the rate of fire and the projectile loading mechanism.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Answering that issue may be the reason why it isn't deployed yet. DDG-1000 (previously DDX) was entirely designed around the rail gun. There has to be some issues with it for them to be deploying the Zumwalt with a more traditional (albeit still the most high-tech on a destroyer) weapon system.

Presumably, the Zumwalt will be commissioned with all the power equipment required to drive the rail guns so power isn't the problem. I highly doubt they would have proceeded with the first three ships of the Zumwalt class if they weren't. Rate of fire and robotically reloading it is most likely the source of the delay. Perhaps it could be the ammunition too. All three are intrinsically related.

 

[AsRock]

Going need it with all those submarines out there in fact probably better of making those than ships.

 

[RCoon]

Going need it with all those submarines out there in fact probably better of making those than ships.

Until they wind up grounding on the shores of Scotland by accident

 

[FordGT90Concept]

A destroyer can move faster and serve more roles than a submarine. Case in point: Zumwalt has a hangar for storing and launching helicopters (manned and unmanned) while not compromising its stealthy characteristics.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

"Come death, come sweet death." The little legionaire

 

[Steevo]

stealthy from who? Somali pirates? Idiots who are going to drive boats full of explosives next to the boat as they can see it with their stealth proof eyes (tm)?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/u-s-navy-rescues-iranian-boat-held-by-pirates.html


http://hamptonroads.com/node/104461


I bet they find a way to make sure they do their inspections in Hawaii as well, nothing quite like the thrill of the rough sea life and fighting the natives of Hawaii for their freedom and right to basic human rights......with their state sponsored medical....http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/health/policy/17hawaii.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 and we wouldn't want that state sponsored health care rules and regulations getting in the way of good old merica freedom right? Put those bastards down now before their commie ideas spread to any civilized country!

Hawaii is right around the corner from the middle east too right?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

All RADAR. If a stealth aircraft/vessel isn't actively pinging its location, no one knows it is even there without looking directly at it or picking it up via SONAR. It has techniques to counter both of these measures too.

Ever since the USS Cole bombing (coincidentally, it is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer), all ships are given orders to fire on sight any ship that approaches without identifying themselves. In short, suicide bombings on naval ships fail; none have succeeded since the Cole/policy change.

Also, once the rail guns are equipped, the Zumwalts should be able to sink ships without killing anyone on board. It makes piracy...laughable.

 

[RCoon]

stealthy from who? Somali pirates? Idiots who are going to drive boats full of explosives next to the boat as they can see it with their stealth proof eyes (tm)?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/u-s-navy-rescues-iranian-boat-held-by-pirates.html


http://hamptonroads.com/node/104461


I bet they find a way to make sure they do their inspections in Hawaii as well, nothing quite like the thrill of the rough sea life and fighting the natives of Hawaii for their freedom and right to basic human rights......with their state sponsored medical....http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/health/policy/17hawaii.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 and we wouldn't want that state sponsored health care rules and regulations getting in the way of good old merica freedom right? Put those bastards down now before their commie ideas spread to any civilized country!

Hawaii is right around the corner from the middle east too right?

Implying a Somalian Pirate vessel could get within 100KM of this destroyer without being spotted and vaporised before they can say "stand and deliver".
Ever seen a somalian pirate sail up to a destroyer? Neither have I.

 

[TheGuruStud]

Implying a Somalian Pirate vessel could get within 100KM of this destroyer without being spotted and vaporised before they can say "stand and deliver".
Ever seen a somalian pirate sail up to a destroyer? Neither have I.

Edit: FORDGT already posted it lol

Actually, this was allowed to happen, before. It's very fishy.

 

[AsRock]

Until they wind up grounding on the shores of Scotland by accident

Subs own the water.. That's why America is getting as many of them out their with the best tech as possible.

Lets face it you own the water you own the land too as those things can carry nukes too.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

If the USA controls the sea, it also controls the sky because of aircraft carriers. If you control the sky, you can also control the ground up to x number of miles inland. There's very little land the USA can't strike at on short notice.

These $7 billion ships are intended to keep the $14 billion aircraft carriers (excluding aircraft and personnel) safe.

 

[entropy13]

stealthy from who? Somali pirates? Idiots who are going to drive boats full of explosives next to the boat as they can see it with their stealth proof eyes (tm)?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/u-s-navy-rescues-iranian-boat-held-by-pirates.html


http://hamptonroads.com/node/104461


I bet they find a way to make sure they do their inspections in Hawaii as well, nothing quite like the thrill of the rough sea life and fighting the natives of Hawaii for their freedom and right to basic human rights......with their state sponsored medical....http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/health/policy/17hawaii.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 and we wouldn't want that state sponsored health care rules and regulations getting in the way of good old merica freedom right? Put those bastards down now before their commie ideas spread to any civilized country!

Hawaii is right around the corner from the middle east too right?

You really are a bit ignorant at times in these issues....


Considering that a Chinese admiral just had to make a press release regarding the USS Zumwalt in one of the major Chinese dailies with the exact same statement ("I only need several bomb boats to sink it!"), even though 1. Zumwalt wasn't made as a specific threat to China 2. No mention of China was made at all during its leaving from the dry dock, i.e. they feel threatened because they know they're the ones trying to brew a s**tstorm in the Pacific and now it seems it's coming to haunt them.

Also, stealth != invisible.

It's essentially the difference between the Chameleon spell and the Invisible spell in Elder Scroll games.

You're harder to find, not that you're impossible to find.

And visual-only detection is quite limited in terms of distance. You also imply that the Zumwalt have first-generation radar because they have to be 'surprised' by those boats.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

And visual-only detection is quite limited in terms of distance. You also imply that the Zumwalt have first-generation radar because they have to be 'surprised' by those boats.

It looks to me like Zumwalt has AEGIS RADAR system. In other words, it is watching in all directions, all the time and it can track objects as small as anti-ship missiles flying at several times the speed of sound. It's a pretty sure bet it will find you long before you find it.

USS Zumwalt is the most advanced warship out there, bar none.

 

[Steevo]

You really are a bit ignorant at times in these issues....


Considering that a Chinese admiral just had to make a press release regarding the USS Zumwalt in one of the major Chinese dailies with the exact same statement ("I only need several bomb boats to sink it!"), even though 1. Zumwalt wasn't made as a specific threat to China 2. No mention of China was made at all during its leaving from the dry dock, i.e. they feel threatened because they know they're the ones trying to brew a s**tstorm in the Pacific and now it seems it's coming to haunt them.

Also, stealth != invisible.

It's essentially the difference between the Chameleon spell and the Invisible spell in Elder Scroll games.

You're harder to find, not that you're impossible to find.

And visual-only detection is quite limited in terms of distance. You also imply that the Zumwalt have first-generation radar because they have to be 'surprised' by those boats.

Im sorry Im a bit ignorant about a percieved threat and actions againt such that could or would he considered a mental illness if it wasn't a war happy government.

I bet they could use spells from real video games to enchant their ship in sneak abilities!!!!

And the unemployed needy here should learn the spell to make food and jobs, but they are too lazy!! We need money for make fake war and keep safe the inhabitants of other nations!

 

[Easy Rhino]

It does not have apt, as it is obviously not Debian based but custom (I bet there is a lot of use of Linux for Embeded due all the microcontrolers and so on).

the joke went right over your head...

on another note, automating war machines is a very scary proposition.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Just saw this now:
The Navy’s newest warship is powered by Linux

She literally has a 16-cluster supercomputer in a server room on board.


What drew my attention is this:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/navys-newest-weapon-kills-at-seven-times-the-speed-of-sound/

The third ship in the Zumwalt-class will get rail guns before 2020. RAIL GUNS!!!

 

[Norton]

Steam powered

 

[GorbazTheDragon]

It's an interesting piece of engineering, but sadly it is strategically and tactically utterly pointless.

A ship that size is a sitting duck anywhere within strike range of a proper military power, and stealth is the biggest load of bollocks I've seen the military PR throw out in a long time. There is NO way you are going to hide a METAL object from radar, longwave signals will always pick up large chunks of conductive material no matter how much "cladding" or fancy ass paint you put on it (TBF none of the stealth bombers are actually stealthy to ground radar, the stealth tech only works (TO A LIMITED EXTENT) against short range missiles which use on board guidance, any truck size RADAR installation will easily pick up something like that).

Not to mention you can just use some large GPS guided missile and coordinate with a visual/near IR satellite to blow the thing to bits because there is no way that thing is out-manoeuvring a missile strike within a dozen seconds notice, even within a full minute the movement of a ship is very easy to predict.

People really need to stop buying into all this expensive military crap and start sending all the fancy stuff into space, down here we can just stick to high volume conventional weapons, there is no point in spending billions of dollars on some program that will give you slightly better tech but let any enemy outnumber you 10 to 1 with equipment that costs less than a quarter of the price, not to mention that your kill to loss ratio will never be nearly as high as 10-1 no matter what your tech is.

 

[dorsetknob]

Steam powered

You might think your taking the piss
But All Nuke Reactor powered vessels USE STEAM POWER
The nuke just heats water for Steam turbines
that's what moves the pile of slowly corroding .................... Opps

 

[Norton]

You might think your taking the piss
But All Nuke Reactor powered vessels USE STEAM POWER
The nuke just heats water for Steam turbines
that's what moves the pile of slowly corroding .................... Opps

Very true but how does that relate to a ship powered by Rolls Royce gas turbines?

 

[dorsetknob]

Absolutely nothing
Just bear in mind that the Europeans were sailing Stelath warships ( in Service ) way back in 2009
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visby-class_corvette

 

[Easo]

Except that Zumwalt is far more advanced, and, well, stealthy. Ah yes, one is corvette, second one is destroyer close in size to the first dreadnoughts.
Also Burke's are using stealth tech too (and buuuuuuunch of other ships from various countries).