Jan 29, 2025 - Technology

Zumwalt paving the way for U.S. Navy hypersonic weapons

Colin Demarest

The USS Zumwalt sits in the water. Piers and other infrastructure flank the ship. A crane and the sun are seen on the right. — The USS Zumwalt at Ingalls Shipbuilding in December 2024. Photo: Courtesy of HII

The USS Zumwalt, long a punching bag, will shape "an evolving hypersonic weapons road map" inside the U.S. Navy, according to Rear Adm. Bill Daly, the director of surface warfare.

The big picture: The stealthy destroyer splashed back into the water after a retrofit that gave it four missile tubes to hold the Conventional Prompt Strike weapon.

Photos shared by the Navy and widely reported on show progress throughout 2024, including the gutting of the warship.

What they're saying: "The DDG-1000 class is a highly capable platform today and a vehicle for speeding hypersonic capability to the fleet," Daly said at the Surface Navy Association conference this month.

Context: Hypersonic advances made by China and Russia are pressuring American offenses, defenses and timelines.

Such weapons are nimble and travel miles in seconds, complicating interception.
President Trump's decree for an American Iron Dome mentioned "hypersonic" at least four times.

The bottom line: "I think the speed in modifying Zumwalt to carry CPS is impressive," the Hudson Institute's Bryan Clark told me, "and could turn the program from being an acquisition embarrassment to an innovation success."

Add Axios on Google

Zumwalt paving the way for U.S. Navy hypersonic weapons

What to read next