DDG-1000 Hits an Iceberg, Taking on Water

Have you hit this link today? I had to take a screenshot, click to enlarge.




It says...

In a dramatic, behind-the-scenes about-face, the Navy is rescinding support for its Zumwalt-class DDG-1000 destroyer program, seeking to persuade Pentagon leaders to limit the program to two ships and resume construction of Arleigh Burke-class DDG-51 destroyers, Inside the Navy has learned.

Is strategic thinking making a comeback in shipbuilding? If you read Clips on Friday, I was surprised they included this tidbit.

A directly related issue is whether Congress will agree to continue funding DDG-1000 acquisition. …The first two, already funded and soon to begin construction, make excellent technology demonstrators for the future CG(X). The remaining 5 DDG-1000s that have not been funded need to be canceled. Failure to do so will insure a small future Navy. Anyone supporting the construction of battleships to meet the existing and potential emerging 21st century maritime environment is thinking industrial, not strategic. The Navy needs BIWs to be building a whole bunch of small combatants right now, not more battleships.

That opinion was from the larger analysis we gave last week here. For the record, the DDG-51 is a battleship, so what we see here is the replacement of an enormous, super expensive battleship for less enormous, less expensive battleship.

The debate should be whether the Navy should build corvettes or frigates, and which platform makes for a better mothership. SC-21 got it right, but got it backwards. The next battleship is the CG(X), a critical platform for the future fleet of which a lot of questions still remain.

If the ISN report turns out to be accurate, it would appear the DDG-1000 is sinking, and the future Navy may stop shrinking.