USS Zumwalt: soon the biggest destroyer of the U.S. Navy

elevision Bloomberg recently reported the construction of a new type of destroyer in the U.S. Navy. Its particularity? It closely resembles a type of ship ... 19th century!

Mid-December, the site BIW (General Dynamics) Bath has successfully integrated the imposing superstructure of the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) on the hull of the future American destroyer. Weighing 900 tons, 47 meters long and 18 meters high, the composite block was transferred by barge to Bath, where he was laid on December 14.

First of a series of three large stealth missile destroyers, the USS Zumwalt, whose construction began in February 2009, is now 80% complete. Its set afloat in 2013 and its delivery to the U.S. Navy the following year.

The DDG 1000 will measure close to 186 meters long and 24.4 meters wide and show a displacement of nearly 15,000 tons in charge.

Although called destroyer, so he clearly outperform U.S. ships in the same category (type Arleigh Burke destroyers measure 155 meters and have a displacement of 9200 tons burden), and even the type Ticonderoga cruisers (173 feet, 9 970 tonnes).

The USS Zumwalt, which will have a small crew (130 + marine detachment aeronautics), was particularly designed for coastal operations.

It will carry 80 cell vertical launch Tomahawk missiles, Harpoon, SM-3, and VLA ESSM, two AGS 155mm guns, two 57mm pieces of light artillery and torpedo tubes.

It can also carry a Seahawk helicopter and three Fire Scout drones. Its propulsion is provided by four gas turbines supplied by Rolls-Royce MT30 two, with a power of 34.8 MW and a speed of 31 knots.

The construction of its first sister ship, the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), began in 2010, the building must be received by the U.S. Navy in 2016.

The third ship of this class, the USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002), delivery is expected in 2018.

The series, which was initially include 32 units to replace older destroyers type Spruance, stop there, the U.S. Navy has decided not to pursue this program because of its huge cost. End of 2011, the Pentagon estimated that the bill for the first three Zumwalt is expected to reach $ 20 billion, including studies.

Raytheon Awarded $169 Million for Zumwalt Work

the U.S. Department of Defense announced it has awarded Raytheon a contract modification to its previously awarded fixed-price incentive, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to install mission systems equipment on the ultramodern Zumwalt-class destroyers DDG 1000 and DDG 1001 (the USS Zumwalt  and the USS Michael Monsoor, respectively), as well as "non-hatchable mission systems equipment" on a planned DDG 1002 -- the USS Lyndon B. Johnson.
At present, only three destroyers are anticipated to be built in the Zumwalt line, ultimately costing taxpayers some $3.3 billion apiece. The current Raytheon contract, however, is "not to exceed" $169 million in value. The ships themselves are being built by defense contractors General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls .

Raytheon shares closed down 1% Friday, ahead of the announcement, at $56.70.

Successful shots for the new canon 155mm future Zumwalt

BAE Systems recently led a successful campaign of shootings LRLAP (Long Range Land Attack Projectile), ammunition propelled and guided 155mm artillery for the future of American destroyers main type Zumwalt (DDG 1000). The purpose of these tests was to determine the performance of the propulsion in different environments (hot and cold temperatures), while testing the capabilities of the head of the shell and its GPS guidance. "The tests demonstrated the ability of accurate fire at long range with a rocket projectile guidance by a satellite positioning system providing the desired effect on the target. All test requirements were met or exceeded, "says BAE Systems.

Software ‘Scrums’ Keep DDG-1000 Work On Track

Few ships are more dependent on proper software development than the thinly crewed DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers, which rely on computer networks to run more automated systems for their operation.
Thus far, Raytheon Integrated Systems, one of the Zumwalt’s prime contractors developing a major portion of that software, has been able to meet program deadlines and milestones for those systems.
One of the keys for that success, says Bill Marcley, Raytheon DDG-1000 program manager and vice president of Total Ship Mission Systems, has been a “new agile software development approach” for software development and production.
“The commercial world is largely shifting away from a software development approach that has you develop all of your requirements and then go into a design-code-test phase and get all of that done and then you go into software integration testing,” he says.

“Instead, you develop smaller amounts of the requirements,” he says. “You do your coding and you integrate it all in smaller stories incrementally instead of people wringing out all of the requirements and people doing integration separately. You do it as a team.”
He says the small-unit development and integration are called “scrums,” an allusion to the rugby term for the organized, hard-hitting rumble for the ball between the two teams.
“We basically grab functionally and break it down into story points,” he says. “The benefit is there is less thrown over the wall. There is more face-to-face interaction and quicker turnaround on problem solutions and development.”
Also, he says, the approach combines the talents of the various software development teams earlier and more fully. “The folks who are helping develop and the people doing the requirements development and integration are testing it,” he says.
Marcley adds, “All support is linked together across the team, so there is much tighter interaction. There is lots of face-to-face work. We actually changed our facilities — instead of software writers and requirements people sitting in separate cubes, we got rid of all that and now they’re in collaborative work environments. They sit and face each other around conference tables specifically designed to facilitate software testing.”
The process makes for more cohesive software development, he says. “You eliminate gaps between teams. You identify problems way earlier in the software development cycle. We’re seeing benefits of that.”
Raytheon is now working on some of the most vital defensive software systems for the ship. “We’re going to write so many stories on so much software relative to air missile defense or sonar processing,” he says.
The next major milestone is in December, he notes, when Raytheon has a major software review with Navy participation.
“The Navy sits in on our weekly software status reviews,” he says. “We have monthly combat systems reviews. The Navy gets a tremendous amount of visibility into what we’re doing.”

GE to Power US Navy’s Latest Amphibious Assault Flagship—Continues to Provide Strong Defense Capabilities Worldwide

GE’s Power Conversion business has signed a contract worth more than $10 million with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) of Pascagoula, Miss., to provide an auxiliary propulsion system (APS) for the future USS Tripoli (LHA-7), which is the U.S. Navy’s latest large-deck amphibious assault ship. This project builds on Power Conversion’s past success with providing similar equipment for other U.S. Navy ships, including the LHD-8 and LHA-6.

“By using our hybrid propulsion technology, the USS Makin Island (LHD-8) has saved more than 4 million gallons of fuel during its seven-month maiden deployment, resulting in an estimated cost savings of $15 million,” said Paul English, marine vertical leader, GE’s Power Conversion business. “This project will allow the U.S. Navy to lower operating costs due to fuel savings provided by a more efficient power and propulsion system. It also will help reduce routine maintenance costs and time as well as enable a smaller carbon footprint due to lower fuel expenses.”


The technology in this project is similar to that of a hybrid vehicle. The U.S. Navy’s two GE LM2500+ gas turbines are the main propulsion source and are used when full speed is required, as gas is used in hybrid cars when full power is needed. Power Conversion’s APS, or electrical drive train, is connected to the same propeller shafts, similar to the electric portion of a hybrid vehicle. The purpose of the APS is to provide a fuel-saving alternative, compared to the gas turbine engines, during low-speed operations, which is when the gas turbines are less fuel efficient than an electrical propulsion system.

An LHA is 844 feet long with a 106-foot beam. It weighs 44,854 tons and takes five years to build. The ships, which resemble an aircraft carrier, are the centerpiece of an Amphibious Ready Group used to transport Marine Expeditionary Units and their equipment. LHA-6 is the first ship in its class built without a well deck. The ships have a crew of 1,000 and can transport up to 1,800 troops and their equipment. An LHA has 984 miles of cable. The future USS America (LHA-6) is nearly three football fields in length and is 20 stories high from its keel to the top of its deckhouse. It has 2 acres of flight deck.[1]

The propulsion system project will be executed in GE’s Pittsburgh, Pa., facility where the DDG-1000, T-AKE and MLP programs also are centered. Operation for the future USS Tripoli (LHA-7) is scheduled for April 2015.