The House Armed Services Committee is set to make the US Navy start integrating hypersonic
weapons onto the Zumwalt class of destroyers.
It is interesting to note that the US Navy is on the same page about the idea with the
committee but has till now attributed lesser priority.
Viewers may note that the US Navy was put in charge of developing a common hypersonic
glide body that will ultimately serve as the base not only for the Navy but also for the
AirForce and Army.
The US Navy on its part has stated that the weapon will be designed to meet diverse requirements
and could even be launched from underwater through submarines.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how Hypersonic weapons will make Zumwalt class
the most destructive warship in the world?
Let’s get started.
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A committee aide told reporters, “The bill mandates that the department start
integration of hypersonics on surface ships, on DDG-1000s, given that the department has
been primarily focused on sub-based platforms,”
As per the bill, the timeline to start integration efforts on the Zumwalt class should be no
later than Jan. 1, 2021.
Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Rich Brown has expressed interest in putting
hypersonic weapons on the Zumwalt class, saying that the ship’s larger size, power generation,
and missile launcher compared to the Arleigh Burke-class DDG made it a great host for the
conventional prompt strike weapon.
He said during a media call,
“I have got to tell you, I am thoroughly impressed with the capabilities that that
destroyer will bring into our fleet.
As a matter of fact, I would love to have six more of them, because the capabilities
are that good.
If you look at conventional prompt strike, I can think of no other better platform than
to put conventional prompt strike on that platform.
And then once that happens, or if that happens, make no mistake, it will put the fear of god
into our adversaries once we marry those two platforms together,”
An object is said to be hypersonic once they exceed speeds of Mach 5 that is 5 times the
speed of sound.
This is about 1,715 meters per second or 3,836mph or 6,174 km/h.
There are currently 3 methods being applied to make hypersonic weapons.
The first is using a Scramjet engine.
The scramjet is an innovation on the Ramjet.
Ramjet engine can power flight to supersonic speeds but scramjet can enable the missiles
to reach hypersonic speeds.
The scramjet engine can power a hypersonic cruise missile.
The second is through the use of ALBM or Air-Launched Ballistic missile.
As the name suggests, this kind of missile is ballistic in nature but is launched from
air, unlike traditional ballistic missiles which are launched from land or sea-based
platforms.
The third is using HGV or Hypersonic Glide Vehicle.
In this method, the system is launched to extremely high altitudes using Ballistic Missile
or an aircraft where it skips across the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The vehicle then separates from the carrier and glides back to the earth towards its intended
target attaining hypersonic speed.
This is one being considered in this context.
Hypersonic weapons are being seen as one of the options for the prompt global strike.
'Prompt global strike' is the ability to quickly take out targets anywhere in the world.
Zumwalt-class destroyer was designed as multi-mission stealth ships with a focus on land attack.
Initially, there was a plan to built 32 of them.
Each of these warships was supposed to be fitted with two 155-millimeter Advanced Gun
Systems, each capable of engaging targets with precision-guided shells at ranges of
up to 60 miles.
During wartime the ships of this class were supposed to get close to enemy’s coastline
and target their tactical assets, clearing the way for amphibious assault.
But the ship ran into technical difficulties and very high-cost overruns.
The U.S Navy had to ultimately curtail the count from 32 to only 3.
The Long Range Land Attack Projectile or LRLAP, the precision-guided shell that would arm
the ship’s guns, saw cost escalation from $50,000 a round to $800,000.
The U.S Navy, for this reason, canceled LRLAP but pushed ahead to complete the three ships.
The ships will now be configured to take on the enemy’s surface combatants as well as
possible Long-range precision strikes.
The USS Zumwalt was commissioned in October 2016.
The follow-on ship, the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), was commissioned in January 2019
and the third ship of the class, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002) christened
in April 2019 and is slated to be commissioned in 2021.
Stealthy design is mostly attributed to warplanes.
But Zumwalt-class brings the stealth to a major warship.
Zumwalt-class destroyers feature unique wave-piercing tumblehome hulls.
The hull slopes inward from above the waterline which is very different from traditional hulls
which move outwards at a hard angle.
The design significantly reduces the radar cross-section since the slope makes the hull
return very less radar signal that is directed to it when compared to a traditional hull.
This makes the ship harder to detect and target - some reports indicate that the ship has
a radar return similar to a small fishing boat.
There is no other frontline battleship that has this kind of revolutionary design.
The Zumwalt-class destroyers—in addition to their two 155-millimeter guns- have 80
MK57 cells protected by Peripheral Vertical Launch System (PVLS).
The PVLS is designed to reduce the chances of the risk of loss of the entire missile
battery or even the entire ship in case of the magazine explosion.
The system consists of pods of VLS cells that are placed in the outer shell of the ship’s
superstructure.
The outer shell is built with thin steel whereas the inner shell has thick steel.
This design configuration directs any forces of explosion outwards, reducing the chances
of crippling damage.
Each Mk. 57 can carry a single SM-2 or SM-6 long-range surface-to-air missile, ASROC anti-submarine
rocket torpedo, or up to four Evolved Sea Sparrow short-range surface to air missiles.
Importantly, they can also carry Tomahawk.
The same Mk. 57 could be used to deploy a Hypersonic weapon.
Zumwalt class has been an expensive, very long, and almost torturous undertaking.
But the class is one of a kind and has a lot of potentials.
Zumwalt’s stealth characteristics will enable it to snick in undetected near the target
and a hypersonic missile launched from the relatively close range will be nearly impossible
to stop.
The three Zumwalt warships could be assigned to target high-value enemy assets which might
be a suicide mission for conventional surface vessels.
The Zumwalt has been plagued with development and construction issue but the addition of
hypersonic weapons could be a genuine redemption.
Missile defense is incredibly complex & expensive to develop and even more pricey to operationally
deploy.
It requires detection as well as interception systems to work perfectly in tandem.
So, it's being persuaded by only a few nations.
Hypersonic missile defense will be even harder to pull off as the missile defense system
will have very little time to analyze and intervene.
It can be said that the Zumwalt class armed with hypersonic weapons will be as lethal
as it gets.