Three sailors injured aboard Navy’s troubled stealth destroyer undergoing hypersonic makeover
Three sailors injured in fire aboard USS zumwalt While the stealth destroyer was sitting on the dock at HII Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, undergoing an expensive modernization to give the ship a whole new identity.
One sailor was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, while two others were treated at the scene following the April 19 incident. A spokesperson told the USNI on Wednesday that the Navy is investigating the cause and extent of the damage to the warship.
The troubled ship has never participated in any combat operations and has become a byword for the Pentagon: flashy, fantastically expensive, and still trying to figure out what it really wants to be when it grows up.
While a recent GAO review stated that the Zumwalt-class destroyer program cost $25 billion for a fleet of only three ships, the media attributed Zumwalt’s $8 billion mistake.
Zumwalt was originally built around two stealthy 155 mm advanced gun systems, but ammunition became so expensive that the guns were eventually destroyed. The turrets were replaced with 87-inch missile tubes for the Navy’s conventional prompt strike system, while the USNI said the ship was being converted to a “Blue-Water Strike Platform” For long-range hypersonic weapons.
However, those hypersonic missiles have not yet been fully developed and deployed onboard. National Defense previously reported that the Navy wanted to begin CPS testing on the Zumwalt in 2027 or 2028.
The fire comes as the War Department focuses on an even grander vanity project – the proposed Trump-class battleships, the first ship of which is expected to cost more than $17 billion and some outside estimates put the price at more than $20 billion.
The program was announced with much fanfare in December as part of a new program with President Donald Trump, Navy Secretary John Fallon and War Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Golden Fleet” Vision. Phelan was also there this week promoting the new warship as the future of sea power – before suddenly “Departure” Administration the very next day.
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