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by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The US Navy is turning a costly misstep into a strategic advantage by retrofitting the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt with the Navy’s first shipborne hypersonic weapon, according to Defense News. The move is understood to be a response to pressure from Russia and China, which have recently tested hypersonic weapons.
Defense News said the Zumwalt is at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it will be fitted with the US Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile system, which was developed jointly with the US Army.
The system will allow the launch of hypersonic glide vehicles traveling at seven to eight times the speed of sound.
“In choosing the Zumwalt, the Navy is attempting to add to the usefulness of a $7.5 billion warship that is considered by critics to be an expensive mistake despite serving as a test platform for multiple innovations,” Defense News explained in its report.
“The Zumwalt was envisioned as providing land-attack capability with an Advanced Gun System with rocket-assisted projectiles to open the way for Marines to charge ashore. But the system featuring 155 mm guns hidden in stealthy turrets was canceled because each of the rocket-assisted projectiles cost between $800,000 and $1 million.”
“Once the system is complete, the Zumwalt will provide a platform for conducting fast, precision strikes from greater distances, adding to the usefulness of the warship,” Defense News said.
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