US Navy Preps New DDG(X) Destroyer For Lasers & Hypersonic Missiles

by Kris Osborn, President, Warrior

DDG(X): The U.S. Navy’s Game-Changing Next-Generation Destroyer

Although still in its conceptual phase and subsystem technology development, the service plans to field this new generation of advanced destroyers at the beginning of the next decade. 

The advanced technologies do appear significant, especially when it comes to onboard power to support laser weapons, ship defenses, and an electric-drive Integrated Power and Energy System(IPES) designed to optimize fuel efficiency, power, propulsion, and energy storage, capacity, and distribution.  

However, some may question the true margin of difference regarding just how much the DDG(X) will advance breakthrough technologies, as some of what’s planned for the DDG(X) is already here to an extent.  

For example, the now-in-development Navy Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapons are slated to fire from Zumwalt class destroyers by 2025, and submarines by 2028, and lasers are already being integrated into existing warships at an accelerated pace. Therefore, what exactly are the leap-ahead technologies, and do they justify the high cost of the ship, which is expected to be greater than $3.2 billion per vessel? 

Some critics on the Hill are expressing concern about the ship’s anticipated high cost and suggesting that the upgraded weapons and technologies could be successfully integrated into existing vessels.