Navy Details Hypersonic Missile Plan for Zumwalt Destroyers, Virginia Submarines - USNI News

The trio of Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers could each field up to a dozen hypersonic missiles, with the first ship ready for testing in 2025, USNI News has learned.

The service has determined that the hull can accommodate four 87-inch missile tubes that can each hold multiple missiles, Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe the head of the Navy’s strategic systems programs, told reporters on Tuesday at the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium.

“We’re talking about deploying this system on DDG-1000 in 2025, that’s three years from now,” Wolfe said.
“We got to get on with getting all of the design for the Zumwalt, getting all of those tubes in there, as we pulled out the forward gun mounts. We’ve gotten to put these large diameter tubes in there, and then finish the integration work into the combat system.”

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is set to arrive at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., late next year to start a modernization period to install the missile tubes that will replace the two existing 155mm gun mounts on the 16,000-ton guided-missile destroyer, USNI News first reported in August.