Matrix Games Forums

]Hello All!
Assuming this is well within the bounds of OpSec, I thought folks might be interested in some of the first ever images of the USS Zumwalt underway!


She embarked for her first ever sea trials earlier this morning and is underway as of this writing! Having caught a glimpse of her with her tugs about an hour an a half ago, it appears that she has been assigned the following AIS call sign and can be tracked at- https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVoHfJlUAAATAP9.jpg:large[/img] She embarked for her first ever sea trials earlier this morning and is underway as of this writing! Having caught a glimpse of her with her tugs about an hour an a half ago, it appears that she has been assigned the following AIS call sign and can be tracked at- https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3750175/mmsi:367698750/imo:0/vessel:BIWH601/_:059e56aa0e23700337cdd9969050e6f4]https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3750175/mmsi:367698750/imo:0/vessel:BIWH601/_:059e56aa0e23700337cdd9969050e6f4

More Zumwalt Pics-

Nice, thank you for the pics!

wtf looks like a fortress on sea!

Someone will miss the iconic mast, snorkel and larger turret when this is the conduit of the future warships.

It is still a very daunting view out there, even it has some simple lines. I assure the true threat is something they should never reveal to the eyes, until it release a salvo of death.

Is it just me or is there a similarity here?[:)]

ORIGINAL: Dysta

Someone will miss the iconic mast, snorkel and larger turret when this is the conduit of the future warships.

Unless the Flight III Burke's wind up with a giant enclosed hexagon topside, I think iconic masts will be lighting up radar screens for the foreseeable future...

One thing I've picked up from having the Zumwalt in the neighborhood over the past year (and which you can't really get from the CGI visuals) is just her sheer size when compared to the Burkes! The only reason they even called her a destroyer in the first place is because they planned on making an even larger Cruiser with the CG 21. Seeing as they'll be the first ships built since WWII to fulfill the Maritime Fire Support mission, it seems only fitting that they should be christened as BBs... They're about as big as the USS Arizona anyway!

As strange as it may seem, the super stealthy high-tech wonders like the DDG-1000s, F-22, and Seawolf subs have in a certain sense, already been eclipsed by a newer naval paradigm that emphasizes payloads over platforms. Despite (or perhaps because of) exceptions in the LCS and F-35 programs, future hardware will likely be limited to a small core of common, standardized hulls and airframes. Platforms like the SSN-774, DDG-51 Flight III, FA/18 Superhornet, MH-60R, P8 Poseidon, E2D Hawkeye etc... might at first appear outdated next to their sleek superstars, but they point to a new reality wherein military hardware need not be anything more than a bunch of really big information servers networked into giant boxes of missiles and UAVs... Of course, the enemy will always have their say... And if networked unmanned warfare gives one side too much of an advantage then its safe to say the other side will do their best to make warfare as isolated and dirty as possible...

In my opinion, I think the Payloads>Platforms strategy is sound as long as the payloads actually hold up their end of the bargain. Anyone remotely familiar with the workings of military procurement in the US has every right to feel uneasy about something so dependent on the efficiency of US Military Contractors... Yet, there was something in the late-Cold War era faith in high tech platforms that seemed to ignore everything we learned from the last time we fought a major power war... For all the horror stories about Sherman Tank crews being sent as cannon fodder, there are also cases like the Hellcat fighter. A fighter that improved on, rather than replaced, the obsolete Wildcat which allowed them to retool production lines quickly enough to turn the tide of fighting in the Pacific.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy watching the superstar stealth boat from my front row seat with the satisfaction of knowing that the most technologically advanced ship in the world runs on Linux!

Araner, even the most advanced weaponries are critical to assure victory and least of death on your side, you still need tremendous workforce, talents, economy and ultimately, the 'need' for proving the supremacy militarily. I know there's no such thing called overkill in real life military as long as it achieved the objective, but it's still the government's money to pay for this result. And when there's a cheaper option to do the same thing, they'd much perfer it than raw display of technological strength.

What I was implied is there are numerous sailors and technicians who paid their ages to serve older, but still reliable and formidable warships. I don't say it is a bad thing because they still have their actual experiences to share for the new cadets in newer ships. And also, over 6 dozens of ABCDs aren't going to get them all retired in few decades.

Zumwalt is definitely a legendary machine of war, so I hope it and its sister will inspire the world navies why technology matters to military, IF they get a change to PAY for them.

Interesting. If you check out the vessel track on https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/ho ... 44/zoom:10 it looks like they turned off the AIS transponder before heading back into port last night... I wonder if they register a new AIS call sign every day?

So is the captain's name really Cpt James Kirk? Isn't that a bit funny?

Some more pics from yesterdays river cruise-





The bottom photo especially gives a good idea of how the stealth design works. When viewed broadside, she indeed appears as others in the thread have noted, like a giant fortress or a civil war ironclad. Yet viewed from the stern or bow, it doesn't look like a ship at all! This was the case when I caught a brief glimpse of her yesterday as she was heading out to open sea and left her tugs behind. I could see her two tugs plain as day, but it was only after she took a sharp turn to starboard and the sun reflected off her flat side that I realized she wasn't a navigation buoy!
In that sense, perhaps her design owes more to the WW1 "dazzle" paint schemes than to Civil War-era ironclads?

Now they just need to get a VLS Anti Ship in the fleet outside of SAM designed missiles.

I'm sure some of you will disagree with me, but that thing is ugly. Really ugly, it looks like a gray brick on the water.

Agreed, ugly as sin.

More importantly, it will be interesting to see if it turns out to be an ugly, expensive boondoggle.

I am also from the Bath, Maine area and couldn't agree more about the comparison. There is a Flight IIA Restart also docked at the ship yard, and seeing both ships in the water you could really tell how much larger the Zumwalt is.

I really like the style. It reminds me of something from a badly-drawn, over-the-top, 1980s-90s children's cartoon.

Can't wait to see her at her future home in San Diego.

I have a question. The ship is very large. Significantly larger that Burkes. But it seem relatively under armed given the size. And the small crew. Is it because the AGS takes up so much space? Is it because the integrated propulsion system and electrical generation are very large? Or is it because there is still room for future growth? I assume a rail gun sometime but that would replace the AGS. If there is room for additional weapons in future, where could they be placed?

ORIGINAL: orca

I have a question. The ship is very large. Significantly larger that Burkes. But it seem relatively under armed given the size. And the small crew. Is it because the AGS takes up so much space? Is it because the integrated propulsion system and electrical generation are very large? Or is it because there is still room for future growth? I assume a rail gun sometime but that would replace the AGS. If there is room for additional weapons in future, where could they be placed?

One of the reason is Zumwalt got MK51 VLS. Significantly larger and deeper for next-gen missiles to be used in a decade later. Even it got slightly less cells than AB2/3's 96 MK41 cells, it can duel/quad-pack much more variety of missiles than just ESSMs.

So the PLAN copy will be coming out next week? Sorry, I troll, I troll.... [:D]

ORIGINAL: NakedWeasel

So the PLAN copy will be coming out next week? Sorry, I troll, I troll.... [:D]

Well, Chinese DID already copy the deadliest feature of Zumwalt, is also exactly the even bigger version of MK51. It is already installed in 052Ds.

Imagine stuffing a ASM with 0.8*9m of dimension, and launching from from the massive cell, you will see how wimpy the MK51 is. Still, it is not just about the size and quantity of VLS matter it's combat effectiveness. Something smaller and stealthier like LRASM still have its value for MK41, which will be used for AB2/3 and ally warships with MK41 VLS installed, despite the lacks of supersonic speed.