Missile Loadouts: Zumwalt (2018)
The exact missile armament of the Zumwalt-class has always been a rather opaque topic and the United States Navy itself has issued a variety of contradictory statements over the years. As exact loadouts are obviously far from settled given that the first in class has yet to reach operational status and there is talk of reworking the class from land-attack specialists into dedicated ship-killers, this post is even more speculative than others in the Missile Loadouts series and is intended more to provide some insight into the current state of the class than to be a definitive overview of the missile armament of the ships.
Despite the Zumwalt-class’s impressive 16,000 ton displacement, they are armed with just 80 vertical launch cells compared with the 90-96 of the Arleigh Burke-class or the 122 of the Ticonderoga-class. However, the Zumwalt-class is equipped with the significantly larger Mk 57 VLS instead of the legacy Mk 41 VLS of the other classes (25-inch by 23-foot cells instead of 22-inch by 21.5-foot cells). Unfortunately, this additional volume is largely wasted as there are currently no missiles in the Navy’s inventory that can take advantage of it and it is highly unlikely that any new weapons will be developed for a three-ship class.
Still, the lower VLS count is not that great of a handicap. The Zumwalt-class was originally intended to replace the Spruance-class destroyers, the most heavily-armed of which were equipped with a 61-cell VLS, 24 Sea Sparrow, and 8 Harpoon - a 75-cell equivalent when considering the ability to quadpack Sea Sparrow’s successor, ESSM. While the Zumwalt-class would require some additional cells for area air defense weapons, this was somewhat mitigated by a lesser need for point defense missiles and ASROC. When compared with the Arleigh Burke-class, the 10-16 cell difference is largely consumed by the antiballistic missiles now carried by the older destroyer.
The Mk 57 VLS is advertised as being compatible with all the weapons that function with the Mk 41 VLS. However, this does not mean that those weapons will necessarily work with the new combat systems of the Zumwalt-class. This became a significant talking point in the Navy's 2008 testimony as to why it desired to cancel the Zumwalt-class, as it claimed the ship was incompatible with SM-2 and could not perform area air defense. But this was a half-truth at best. Unlike the Aegis ships, the Zumwalt-class makes use of an X-band multifunction radar with intermittent continuous wave illumination, thus it could employ the the S-band uplink installed on SM-2 or illuminate a large number of targets simultaneously. However, a version of SM-2 had already been created to overcome these issues with the similar APAR X-band multifunction radar installed on several European frigates and destroyers. For more details on the two versions of SM-2 guidance, visit my post on the subject.
In 2016, the Navy began procuring kits to modify SM-2 Block IIIA missiles into Block IIIAZ weapons that are compatible with the Zumwalt-class. Currently, 40 kits have been requested and an inventory of 51 is planned. With only 51 weapons (several of which will no doubt be expended in testing), it is unlikely that more than 24 would ever be carried per ship. While there are currently no published plans to equip the Zumwalt-class with the more capable SM-6 or the proposed SM-2 Block IIIC, it is possible that this will be done in the future.
As with SM-2, the Zumwalt-class required a special version of ESSM. However, the fielding of this weapon was never in doubt and a small batch of these missiles was procured in 2012, with a larger number in 2016. Although only 30 ESSM Mk 57 have been purchased, this is because ESSM Block II uses new hardware and software that makes the dedicated versions of Block I unnecessary. Still, the Navy appears to have prioritized deploying ESSM on the aircraft carriers and assault ships over the cruisers and destroyers, so it is unlikely that the Zumwalt-class will receive many of these weapons.
Finally, the Zumwalt-class will be equipped with Tomahawk and VL-ASROC. Given the small number of the latter in the inventory, it is unlike that more than a handful will ever be carried. In contrast, Tomahawk will certainly make up the bulk of the ships' weapons. Further, with the Navy's push for the new Maritime Strike Tomahawk, it is quite possible that a substantial fraction of the cruise missiles will eventually be anti-ship rather than land-attack weapons.
The Navy is also currently planning to integrate SM-6 with the Zumwalt-class, although that will likely be some time in the future if it happens. However, as the Zumwalt-class is currently limited to only the relatively short-ranged SPY-3 radar, fully utilizing SM-6's impressive range will likely only be possible through Cooperative Engagement Capability. Alternatively, SM-6 could be used primarily as a high-speed antiship missile.
Despite the Zumwalt-class’s impressive 16,000 ton displacement, they are armed with just 80 vertical launch cells compared with the 90-96 of the Arleigh Burke-class or the 122 of the Ticonderoga-class. However, the Zumwalt-class is equipped with the significantly larger Mk 57 VLS instead of the legacy Mk 41 VLS of the other classes (25-inch by 23-foot cells instead of 22-inch by 21.5-foot cells). Unfortunately, this additional volume is largely wasted as there are currently no missiles in the Navy’s inventory that can take advantage of it and it is highly unlikely that any new weapons will be developed for a three-ship class.
Still, the lower VLS count is not that great of a handicap. The Zumwalt-class was originally intended to replace the Spruance-class destroyers, the most heavily-armed of which were equipped with a 61-cell VLS, 24 Sea Sparrow, and 8 Harpoon - a 75-cell equivalent when considering the ability to quadpack Sea Sparrow’s successor, ESSM. While the Zumwalt-class would require some additional cells for area air defense weapons, this was somewhat mitigated by a lesser need for point defense missiles and ASROC. When compared with the Arleigh Burke-class, the 10-16 cell difference is largely consumed by the antiballistic missiles now carried by the older destroyer.
The Mk 57 VLS is advertised as being compatible with all the weapons that function with the Mk 41 VLS. However, this does not mean that those weapons will necessarily work with the new combat systems of the Zumwalt-class. This became a significant talking point in the Navy's 2008 testimony as to why it desired to cancel the Zumwalt-class, as it claimed the ship was incompatible with SM-2 and could not perform area air defense. But this was a half-truth at best. Unlike the Aegis ships, the Zumwalt-class makes use of an X-band multifunction radar with intermittent continuous wave illumination, thus it could employ the the S-band uplink installed on SM-2 or illuminate a large number of targets simultaneously. However, a version of SM-2 had already been created to overcome these issues with the similar APAR X-band multifunction radar installed on several European frigates and destroyers. For more details on the two versions of SM-2 guidance, visit my post on the subject.
In 2016, the Navy began procuring kits to modify SM-2 Block IIIA missiles into Block IIIAZ weapons that are compatible with the Zumwalt-class. Currently, 40 kits have been requested and an inventory of 51 is planned. With only 51 weapons (several of which will no doubt be expended in testing), it is unlikely that more than 24 would ever be carried per ship. While there are currently no published plans to equip the Zumwalt-class with the more capable SM-6 or the proposed SM-2 Block IIIC, it is possible that this will be done in the future.
As with SM-2, the Zumwalt-class required a special version of ESSM. However, the fielding of this weapon was never in doubt and a small batch of these missiles was procured in 2012, with a larger number in 2016. Although only 30 ESSM Mk 57 have been purchased, this is because ESSM Block II uses new hardware and software that makes the dedicated versions of Block I unnecessary. Still, the Navy appears to have prioritized deploying ESSM on the aircraft carriers and assault ships over the cruisers and destroyers, so it is unlikely that the Zumwalt-class will receive many of these weapons.
Finally, the Zumwalt-class will be equipped with Tomahawk and VL-ASROC. Given the small number of the latter in the inventory, it is unlike that more than a handful will ever be carried. In contrast, Tomahawk will certainly make up the bulk of the ships' weapons. Further, with the Navy's push for the new Maritime Strike Tomahawk, it is quite possible that a substantial fraction of the cruise missiles will eventually be anti-ship rather than land-attack weapons.
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| Zumwalt in 2020?: 20x SM-2MR, 16x ESSM, 4x VLA, 52x TLAM |
The Navy is also currently planning to integrate SM-6 with the Zumwalt-class, although that will likely be some time in the future if it happens. However, as the Zumwalt-class is currently limited to only the relatively short-ranged SPY-3 radar, fully utilizing SM-6's impressive range will likely only be possible through Cooperative Engagement Capability. Alternatively, SM-6 could be used primarily as a high-speed antiship missile.
