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Navy Technology

Advances in Ship Technology

Previously known as the DD(X) program, the Zumwalt-class destroyer was designed to be the cornerstone for future surface combat ships using the latest in advanced navy technology. With a low radar profile and a wave-piercing “tumblehome“ hull with sides sloping inward from the waterline, the Zumwalt-class was designed to reduce the radar cross-section and to utilize less energy than traditionally designed naval ships. Furthermore, the Zumwalt-class will be packed with advanced navy technologies and have a Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure (TSCEI) and hence, require a much smaller crew complement of 142 and be less expensive to operate than traditional destroyers.

However, the Zumwalt-class program has been plagued by controversies over cost and design. Originally pegged by the Navy at a cost of US$3.3 billion each with subsequent ships costing US$2.2 billion each, the Congressional Budget Office later predicted that the first two ships would cost US$5 billion apiece with subsequent ships costing US$3.6 billion each. Furthermore, several design issues have been raised, namely:

  1. The stability of tumblehome designs in rough seas has been questioned.
  2. Although the Zumwalt-class has improved air defenses, a top navy official testified before lawmakers on July 31, 2008 and stated that the Zumwalt-class “cannot successfully employ the Standard Missile-2, SM-3 or SM-6 missile” - the Navy’s primary air defense weapons and the latest in missile technology.
  3. The long range fire support capability of the Zumwalt-class has also been called into question given that most of the shells carried have a smaller war head and a shorter range.
  4. The Zumwalt-class is designed with a substantially large deckhouse containing all major sensors and detection technologies; however, there are reports that defense contractor Northrop Grumman has had problems in guaranteeing the seals between its construction panels.

Hence, the original plan to build 32 ships for the class has since been cut down to 2 (with one of the ships to be built by General Dynamics and the other by Northrop Grumman while Raytheon will supply the ships' combat systems). However in September of 2008, the Defense Department signaled that it will be changing its position on building the class - including whether or not to even build the first two ships.

Long Range Engagement

As part of the Navy’s Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) program to develop big-ticket, high-risk, and high-payoff items with low technology-readiness levels (TRLs), the Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG)  will launch projectiles using electricity rather than chemical propellants. This will enable the gun to fire projectiles in all-weather conditions at ranges in excess of 200 nautical miles (230 miles) - more than 20 times the current range of the MK 45 5-inch Naval gun. Since the EMRG requires no propellant or warhead (damage is caused by thousands of fragments traveling at lethal velocities), storage requirements are reduced and magazine capacity is increased ten-fold. This, combined with the much greater stand-off distance gained from the EMRG’s increased range, will greatly improve ship board safety.

Furthermore, the EMRG will greatly increase the combat capabilities of the Navy and the Marines as its GPS-guided projectiles will be accurate to within 5 meters of the target. Thus, the chances of collateral damage will be reduced. In addition, the EMRG has the capability to mass persistent volume fire into a specific land engagement while its high trajectory angle will enable it to hit targets on reverse slopes.

In January of 2008, the Navy tested its first EMRG; however, it is estimated that it will take another 15 years (by 2020-2025) before a viable EMRG weapon technology is ready for naval deployment. Currently, BAE Systems and General Atomics are under contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop EMRG weapon technologies through to technology maturation. Other partners involved in EMRG development include Boeing, Charles Stark Draper Lab, Inc., Department of Energy (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), US Naval Academy, Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Sea Systems Command (PMS 500), NAWC Rhode Island, NSWC Carderock, and the NSWC Dahlgren.

 

by John Udovich for Defense Ventures