The U.S. Navy’s expensive effort to install hypersonic missiles on three Zumwalt-class destroyers is two years behind schedule, according to government auditors.
In addition to problems stemming from both the destroyers and the missiles, the Navy and Army are reportedly not coordinating the project, being done at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Missile flight testing scheduled for 2025 has now been pushed back to next year – two years late.
The Government Accountability Office cites rising costs, schedule delay and reliability issues with the Maine-built destroyers, according to Michael Peck of NavyTimes.com.
The Zumwalts suffer from unreliable power systems and difficulty in obtaining spare parts, Peck reports.
The lead Zumwalt, besides receiving a new hypersonic missile system, has also been receiving other improvements, including expanded fuel capacity allowing for increased range, says TWZ.com.
The Navy’s other two Bath-built Zumwalt class destroyers – the USS Michael Monsoor and the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson – are set to receive the same modifications.
Work on the Johnson is already underway as part of the larger process of delivering that ship in the spring.
With these two ships being as problematic as they have been, I heard the Navy was going to retire them and go back to the Maine built Aegus Destroyers.
Another shipbuilding program managed by the inept EDO community.
Just the looks of the thing are problematic. They must have put the design guys in a room with lots of pot to smoke and asked them to come up with something “different”. I’d say they were successful.
The issue with spare parts is reasonable as the procurement of major equipment happens at the time of Navy award, years before installation onboard the ship. And with Washington heads changing configuration of said equipment based on lobbyists in their ear, it’s quite the juggling act. Then add the tension and bs in the yards between laborers and upper management.