According to a tweet published by Chris Cavas on April 13, 2022, new pictures were released of the US Navy's Zumwalt-class destroyer Zumwalt, the first of its class.
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Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt maneuvering off the Southern California coast (Picture source: Chris Cavas)
USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is a guided-missile destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship was commissioned in Baltimore on 15 October 2016. Her home port is San Diego, California.
The Zumwalt-class destroyer is a class of three United States Navy guided-missile destroyers. The class design emerged from the DD-21 "land-attack destroyer" program as "DD(X)" and was intended to take the role of battleships in meeting a congressional mandate for naval fire support.
Unlike previous destroyer classes, designed primarily for deep-water combat, the Zumwalt class was primarily designed to support ground forces in land attacks, in addition to the usual destroyer missions of anti-air, anti-surface, and antisubmarine warfare.
The vessels' distinctive appearance results from the design requirement for a low radar cross-section (RCS). The Zumwalt class has a wave-piercing tumblehome hull form whose sides slope inward above the waterline, which dramatically reduces RCS by returning much less energy than a conventional flare hull form.
The ship is 600 feet (180 m) in length, with a beam of 80.7 feet (24.6 m) and displacing approximately 15,000 tons. Michael Monsoor has a crew size of approximately 148 officers and sailors; she can make speed in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).
The "Zumwalts" use an Integrated Power System (IPS), which is a modern version of a turbo-electric drive system. The IPS is a dual system, with each half consisting of a gas turbine prime mover directly coupled to an electrical generator, which in turn provides power for an electric motor that drives a propeller shaft.
The system is "integrated" because the turbo-generators provide electrical power for all ship systems, not just the drive motors. The system provides much more available electrical power than is available in other types of ships.
The DDG 1001 is armed with 20 MK 57 VLS (Vertical launching System) modules, with 4 vertical launch cells in each module, 80 cells total. Each cell can hold one or more missiles, depending on the size of the missiles.
The ship can launch Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) surface-to-air missiles, Tactical Tomahawk Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC) cruise missiles. The ship is also armed with two 155 mm Advanced Gun Systems and two Mk 46 Mod 2 Gun Weapon Systems.
