Navy's costly — and controversial — Zumwalt ship may get second look by Trump
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With breakdowns and growing costs, the U.S. Navy's most expensive destroyer ever is likely to face added scrutiny by the incoming Trump administration and could see its future role minimized. The USS Zumwalt, a stealth ship commissioned in October and costing upward of $4.4 billion, has already had engineering and propulsion problems and experienced a breakdown last week when it passed through a portion of the Panama Canal. It was delivered about two years late and despite its stealthy qualities is seen by some as vulnerable and no longer suitable for the missions it was designed to handle.

"Since they originally started to build the ship, the threat environment has changed so that cruise missiles can easily reach out and hit anybody that's out there close enough to use a gun to hit the shore," said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, an independent policy research institute based in Washington, D.C.

Clark, a former aide to the chief of naval operations, explained that the Zumwalt-class destroyer was originally designed for operating close to shore such as acting as support for Marines when they land on shore. "That mission sort of fell away [and now the ship is] too vulnerable and too valuable to have them get so close to shore."

The Navy plans to get two more of the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers, which are equipped with labor-saving technology and manufactured by General Dynamics ' Bath Iron Works in Maine. But its fate will ultimately rest with President-elect Donald Trump, who has made expansion of the Navy part of his plan to strengthen the military. A General Dynamics Bath Iron Works spokesman deferred questions on the destroyer to the Navy, which did not respond at deadline.



Costly ammunition adds to concerns

The Pentagon originally had hoped to get 32 of the Zumwalt-class warships but backed off the plan more than a decade ago after congressional criticism about costs. Adding to the concerns is the huge cost of ammunition for the Zumwalt's on-board advanced guns made by BAE Systems , which can run upward of $1 million apiece, according to some reports. That means the each round of the guided precision ammo is equivalent to the cost of a Tomahawk or a Boeing Harpoon missile.

"The ammunition is definitely an issue," said Benjamin Freeman, deputy director of the National Security Program at Third Way, a Washington-based think tank. "Frankly it's unsustainable for the Navy. At almost $1 million a shot, that's not actually something that they can do."

Officer stands watch on bridge of USS Zumwalt. The new warship requires roughly half the crew size of older destroyers. Sonja Wickard | U.S. Navy

The Zumwalt ship and its class of destroyers, also known as DDG 1000, was named for the late Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt. The destroyer's 155-millimeter guns were designed to use so-called Long Range Land-Attack Projectiles, or LRLAPs, made by Lockheed Martin . Around 90 LRLAPs were bought for the Zumwalt, including some for testing.

"As the DDG 1000's mission continues to evolve, and taking into consideration funding profiles available to support the weaponization of the ship in light of the severe reduction in the planned production quantities, the U.S. Navy decided to evaluate alternate solutions to LRLAP," a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said in an email statement. "Lockheed Martin is working aggressively to provide the Navy with options in relation to the DDG-1000's long-range land attack mission."

Purchases of around 2,000 projectiles to supply all three Zumwalt-class destroyers would likely exceed $1.8 billion. That is in addition to the Zumwalt-class development costs, which have already reached roughly $10 billion.

Meantime, the USS Zumwalt warship is expected to arrive in San Diego by the end of the year and a decision on new ammunition for the ship's big guns is likely to be made by the Trump administration.

Trump's defense plan outlined in September called for up to 350 surface ships and submarines, up from 276 today and above the Pentagon's current target of 308 ships over the next 10 years. That said, Trump hasn't specified plans for destroyer warships and could revisit the Navy's decision to buy three of the Zumwalt-class destroyers.

Zumwalt's role is volving