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A high-tech US Navy destroyer will be equipped with hypersonic weapons.
One of the most modern warships of the US Navy, the DDG 1000 Zumwalt Nightmare-class stealth destroyer, is undergoing a modernization process to install the first hypersonic weapons complex on an American warship, informs ArmyInform.
According to the US Naval Institute, the work will allow Zumwalt to remain one of the most technologically advanced and deadly ships in the US Navy. The work, which began in August last year and will last until 2025, is taking place at the Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. As reported by the US Navy press service, the ship will be equipped with hypersonic Conventional Prompt Strike systems. This re-equipment involves replacing the original Advanced Gun System (AGS) with four large-caliber missile launchers, each of which can hold three hypersonic missiles, with a total salvo of 12 missiles.
Experts at the defense website Army Recognition said that the Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) played a significant role in the modernization of the Zumwalt-class destroyers. On August 29, 2023, a $154,8 million contract was awarded to modernize the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), including the integration of the Conventional Rapid Strike (CPS) weapons system.
This project follows previous contracts, including a $10,5 million January 2023 plan to upgrade the USS Zumwalt and USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001). HII also participated in equipping the Zumwalt-class destroyers with the Mk 57 Advanced Vertical Launch Systems under a $74 million contract awarded in April 2024.
With nearly $1 billion in infrastructure investments, HII continues to enhance the combat capabilities and technological sophistication of these U.S. Navy stealth warships. The Conventional Strike Program (CPS), originally called Rapid Global Strike, is designed to give the United States the ability to deliver precision conventional strikes anywhere in the world within one hour. CPS utilizes technologies such as hypersonic glide vehicles and surface, air, and underwater missile platforms.
Potential delivery systems include ICBM-like missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles, and orbital-launched kinetic weapons. A key goal is to address rapid response scenarios and expand capabilities beyond nuclear strikes. Test milestones include the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon flight in 2011, the Common Hypersonic Glide Body test in 2020, and integration plans for Zumwalt-class destroyers in 2024. Design efforts are aimed at distinguishing CPS from nuclear systems to reduce the risk of misinterpretation by adversaries.
The CPS modernization program involves multiple defense contractors. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor responsible for final assembly of the missile, which takes place in Cortland, Alabama, integrating components manufactured by Northrop Grumman and Dynetics. Northrop Grumman builds the rocket boosters and payload module, while Dynetics builds the hypersonic glide vehicle. The DDG-1000 Program Office manages funding and oversight of the program.
However, the cost of these systems has raised concerns in the United States. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that producing and maintaining 300 hypersonic missiles over 20 years could cost nearly $18 billion, an average of $60 million per missile. Critics argue that the cost could exceed the value of many potential targets. Proponents counter, insisting that hypersonic weapons extend the operational range and accuracy beyond the reach of conventional systems, providing an advantage in contested environments.
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is a guided-missile destroyer and the lead ship of her class, named for Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. She displaces 14 tons, is 564 feet long, and is powered by an integrated power system generating 600 MW, providing a speed of 78 knots.
Initially, such ships were equipped with two 155 mm advanced gun systems designed for long-range land-based projectiles, but the abolition of land-based ammunition removed the guns from the armament arsenal, leading to a shift from land-based attacks to surface warfare. The ship has 80 Mk 57 Vertical Launch System peripheral cells for various missiles, a radar cross-section designed to reduce detection, and an automation-oriented design for a smaller crew.
Commissioned in 2016, the Zumwalt has undergone a variety of modifications, including the planned replacement of the Advanced Gun Systems with hypersonic missile launchers during a modernization period that began in 2023. The Zumwalt-class destroyers were conceived in the United States under the DD-21 program, launched in the 1990s as a 21st-century solution to the naval fire support previously provided by battleships. The program aimed to develop multi-role warships with a focus on land attack, surface warfare, and reduced radar detection, consistent with US Congressional mandates to enhance naval firepower.
Due to rising costs and changing military priorities, the program was rebranded as the DD(X) initiative, and the number of ships planned to be built was reduced from 32 to 3. With an estimated total program cost of $22,5 billion, the Zumwalt class of destroyers represents a shift toward smaller, more technologically integrated fleets, as well as an attempt to balance technological innovation with fiscal and operational concerns and the global race for hypersonic superiority. In fact, hypersonic capabilities are now considered essential by the United States to maintain strategic parity with competitors such as Russia and China, which have made significant strides in this area.
China tested its hypersonic glider, the DF-ZF, between 2014 and 2016, which is reported to have entered service by 2019, along with other hypersonic weapons such as the DF-27 and YJ-21.
In turn, it is reported that according to the planned schedule, the first full-scale deployment of Zumwalt should take place in the last months of 2026 or early 2027. This most important event will take place under the control of the US 7th Fleet and the US Indo-Pacific Command, which confirms their leadership in this strategic step.
