The Navy and its shipbuilder, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, pushed back the delivery of the first warship, the Zumwalt, from this summer to November. The second ship, the Michael Monsoor, will be delivered in November 2016, a few months delayed.
At 610 feet, it is larger than any Navy destroyer or cruiser since the nuclear-powered USS Long Beach bought in 1957, according to the Congressional Research Service.She added that while work on the Zumwalt is 94% complete, the complexity of the project requires more time for tests and activation aboard the warship.
Costing more than $3 billion, the ship will sport advanced automation to reduce crew size and a stealthy shape designed to minimize its visibility on enemy radar. It also features a new gun with rocket-propelled projectiles, new radar and sonar systems, and a new hull shape.
The electric-powered Zumwalt has two main generators which, along with two auxiliary units, can produce enough electricity to light up about 10,000 homes.
Named after the late Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, the ship will not be declared ready for initial combat until September 2018, about two years later than previously projected, according to Navy documents obtained by Bloomberg Business.
Both the Zumwalt and the Monsoor – named after the late Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient Michael Monsoor – are expected to begin engineering sea trials later this year.
The third and final ship in the class, the Lyndon B. Johnson, remains on schedule for delivery in December 2018, the Navy said.
The $22 billion estimated cost of the program includes development of what originally was intended to be a 10-ship program. The total procurement cost of the three ships total is an estimated $12.9 billion, or about $4.3 billion per ship.
