The Navy’s New DDG(X): A Stealthy Zumwalt & DDG 51 Class, Combination Ship

Video Above: Navy Connects Air, Surface, Underseas Drones

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

Could there be USS Zumwalt-like elements of stealth or radar signature reduction initiatives explored by Navy and industry weapons developers as they craft and ultimately decide upon a new hull for its next-generation future destroyer intended to sail into the 2060s? 

The answer is not yet clear, yet the Navy has shown an initial, pre-decisional rendering of its new ship and indicated it will focus on improved “signatures.” At the same time the service is also being clear to explain that the ship is a follow on to the existing, less stealthy DDG 51 class.

DDG(X), DDG 51 & Zumwalt Class Ships

“As you might have noticed last year, we were being called the large surface combatant, we were designated officially DDG(X) to symbolize that we are the follow on to the DDG 51 program,” Katie Connelly, the deputy program manager for the DDG(X) program office, told an audience at the 2022 Surface Navy Association Symposium.

Given that the ship is intended as a follow on to DDG 51, it seems unlikely the Navy will build a wave-piercing Tumblehome hull like that used for the Navy’s stealthy Zumwalt class. However, Connelly emphasized that the rendering provided at the Surface Navy Association was preliminary and pre-decisional and by no means indicative of what they ultimately plan to do. She makes reference to signatures, perhaps suggesting that the new DDG(X) will have fewer protruding structures or edges likely to generate a clear radar return signal.

Of course a destroyer-sized ship could not ever be fully “stealthy” in the sense many think of it in terms of aircraft, however the concept is to make the ship appear smaller and essentially “other” than the warship it is. For instance, following testing on the Navy’s USS Zumwalt, Naval Sea Systems Command released a statement saying the ship appears like a small “fishing boat” to radar systems, thus making it much less detectable or “discoverable” at certain ranges. It might be possible to architect a smoother, less jagged hull and exterior for that purpose, yet still embrace elements of the combat system from DDG 51.