How Stealthy are the Navy’s Zumwalt-class Destroyers?

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

Eluding radar, quietly sailing into enemy territory and launching long-range precision attacks from less-detectable positions all begin to paint the picture of how “stealthy” offensive surface destroyers could transform modern maritime warfare.

Can a massive surface destroyer, armed with Tomahawk missiles, deck-mounted guns, sensors, antennas and heat-generating onboard electrical power, truly be considered stealthy? Surely, tall, vertical masts, hull-mounted sensors and protruding antenna could never be a low-observable ship, yet performing these missions comprised the technical starting point from which engineers launched into building a first-of-its-kind stealth warship.

USS Zumwalt

Stealth attributes are just one of a number of defining characteristics of the much-discussed Zumwalt class warships, perceived by many to represent the beginning of a transformational pivot into a new generation of warfare — including laser weapons, artificial intelligence, expanded networking, advanced sonar and electric-drive.

Technology of these platforms, loaded with heavy firepower, resides in advanced computing, potential for electrical power, potential for future weapons integration and, perhaps most notably, stealth. Just how possible is it to engineer a large destroyer that is significantly less visible to enemy radar?

Typically, when people think of the term stealth, they are drawn toward images of fighter jets or sleek bombers. However, it appears some of the central technical applications of that which constitutes “stealth” seem apparent in the Zumwalt destroyers.