US Navy Reveals Futuristic New Zumwalt Stealth Destroyer

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The U.S. Navy has revealed footage of its new Zumwalt stealth destroyer. The futuristic destroyer is the largest ever built for the U.S. Navy.

Zumwalt (DDG-1000) made her debut when she was launched from the Bath Iron Works in Maine on Monday.

The ship is capable of one day supporting a ‘Star Wars’ rail-gun. The 600-foot long destroyer weighs 15,000 tons and took four years to build, at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion. She began her sea trials yesterday by cruising along the Kennebec River to the Atlantic on her first voyage.

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The Daily Mail reports:

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Future version of the radical design are expected to be used to test a futuristic ‘Star Wars’ railgun that uses electromagnetic energy to fire a shell weighing 10kg at up to 5,400mph over 100 miles – with such force and accuracy it penetrates three concrete walls or six half-inch thick steel plates.

More than 200 shipbuilders, sailors and residents gathered to watch as the futuristic 600-foot, 15,000-ton USS Zumwalt glided past Fort Popham, accompanied by tugboats on Monday.

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

Kelley Campana, a Bath Iron Works employee, said she had goose bumps and tears in her eyes.

‘This is pretty exciting. It’s a great day to be a shipbuilder and to be an American,’ she said.

‘It’s the first in its class. There’s never been anything like it. It looks like the future.’

Larry Harris, a retired Raytheon employee who worked on the ship, watched it depart from Bath.

‘It’s as cool as can be. It’s nice to see it underway,’ he said.

‘Hopefully, it will perform as advertised.’

U.S. Navy YouTube video:

Bath Iron Works will be testing the ship’s performance and making tweaks this winter.

For the crew and all those involved in designing, building, and readying this fantastic ship, this is a huge milestone,’ the ship’s skipper, Navy Capt. James Kirk, said before the ship departed.

The ship has electric propulsion, new radar and sonar, powerful missiles and guns, and a stealthy design to reduce its radar signature.

Advanced automation will allow the warship to operate with a much smaller crew size than current destroyers.

All of that innovation has led to construction delays and a growing price tag.

The Zumwalt, the first of three ships in the class, will cost at least $4.4 billion.

The ship looks like nothing ever built at Bath Iron Works.

The inverse bow juts forward to slice through the waves.

Sharp angles deflect enemy radar signals. Radar and antennas are hidden in a composite deckhouse.

An electromagnetic railgun: