The U.S. Navy is issuing a $32.2 million contract to DRS Systems Inc. for the electric power distribution network of the Zumwalt-class destroyer.

The work will go towards generators and power distribution nodes and is expected to be completed by September 2022.

The DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer is a surface warfare stealth ship still under development by the U.S. Navy. It has a composite superstructure designed to make it difficult to detect by radar and a fully electric drive system to reduce its noise emissions and make it less detectable by enemy sonar.

Its power plants are designed for installation of future weapons systems like electromagnetic railguns, lasers and advanced radars which would require very large amounts of electricity to operate. High-power generation capabilities on a non-nuclear powered ship is a key objective of the Zumwalt program.

The Zumwalt mounts two Advanced Gun Systems designed primarily for shore bombardment. The long-range gun was originally designed to use the Long Range Land Attack Projectile with a maximum range of over 60 miles.

The high cost of the LRAP ammunition has left the Navy looking for alternatives. Under consideration is the already deployed Excalibur GPS-guided 155mm round which would require extensive modifications to the AGS and has a much smaller range.

The Zumwalt-class mounts the Advanced Vertical Launch System for Tomahawk cruise missiles and Standard series surface-to-air missiles as well as two Mk46 30mm Gun Weapons Systems for point defense against small surface targets like speed boats and unmanned boats.

The Zumwalt-class has faced a number of development delays and cost overruns, with each ship costing over $7.5 billion and the Navy has decided limit its production to the current three vessels. The first in the class USS Zumwalt is expected to begin active service by 2021.

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NRL-developed Topcoat Applied on Entire Freeboard of Navy Ship
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Recently, a novel coating developed by researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) for the exterior topsides of Navy surface ships went beyond small area testing to covering the entire freeboard of an amphibious assault ship. Until April of 2017, NRL's single-component (1K) polysiloxane coating had only been tested on 400-800 sq.ft. areas of ships due to limited production quantities ... read more

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