{"id":33163,"date":"2020-10-19T20:59:17","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T20:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/19\/the-us-navys-stealth-destroyer-conducts-its-first-missile-test\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:44:22","slug":"the-us-navys-stealth-destroyer-conducts-its-first-missile-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/19\/the-us-navys-stealth-destroyer-conducts-its-first-missile-test\/","title":{"rendered":"See the US Navy\u2019s stealth destroyer conduct its first missile test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Navy\u2019s first stealth destroyer, Zumwalt<\/a>, test-fired an SM-2 missile out of its MK 57 Vertical Launching System on Oct. 13, the service announced Monday afternoon, demonstrating that the launcher is operable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The test, which took place on the Naval Air Weapons Center Weapons Division Sea Test Range, near Point Mugu, California, was a first for the hull. Zumwalt was delivered to the fleet earlier<\/a> this year, almost four years after commissioning the ship without a fully installed combat system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s successful test not only demonstrates the ship\u2019s capability to fire missiles and conduct self-defense, it is also a significant step toward more advanced combat system testing and operations for our Navy\u2019s most technically innovative warship,\u201d DDG 1000 program manager Capt. Matt Schroeder said in a Navy release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MK 57 VLS can accommodate larger missiles than that MK 41 VLS, and Congress has been pushing the fleet to use the former for hypersonic missile strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ship is now part of the Surface Development Squadron, which is tasked with integrating future technologies such as the Zumwalt-class destroyer and unmanned surface vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the Navy requested nearly $90 million to integrate SM-6, Raytheon\u2019s long-range anti-air missile, which has a surface mode. The service intends to put the Maritime Strike Tomahawk weapon onboard as part of a mission change to make Zumwalt a ship-killing platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future for the ship remains uncertain, however, as it hasn\u2019t found a use for the Advanced Gun System<\/a>. In late 2016, the service canceled its Long Range Land Attack Projectile, which cost about $1 million per round, and has struggled to come up with a replacement round for the gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2019 testimony, the Navy\u2019s then-top requirements officer, Vice Adm. William Merz, told Congress that the slow development of the Advanced Gun System was holding back the Zumwalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven at the high cost, we still weren\u2019t really getting what we had asked for,\u201d he said. \u201cSo what we\u2019ve elected to do is to separate the gun effort from the ship effort because we really got to the point where now we\u2019re holding up the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t