It is reported that the US Navy's investment in the "Zumwalter" project has exceeded US$21 billion, with an average consumption of US$7.5 billion per warship. It can carry 80 Tomahawk missiles and has extremely strong fire strike capabilities.

The picture shows the "Zumwalt"

Recently, the US Navy announced that the super battleship "Zumwalt" has been officially incorporated into US Navy Seventh Fleet and will be deployed to Japan soon. This is also the first time it has deployed overseas since it entered service in 2016. It is reported that the US Navy's investment in the " Zumwalter " project has exceeded US$21 billion, with an average consumption of per warship of . It can carry 80 Tomahawk missiles and has extremely strong fire strike capabilities. This time, "Zumwalter" suddenly entered Yokosuka , and it happened to happen after the Chinese Navy's 055 Nanchang ship cruised the Alaska waters of the United States. This makes people think of it. Is this an action taken by the US military specifically to deal with the 055?

"Zumwalter" is the latest multi-purpose missile destroyer in the United States. Its ship is 185 meters long and has a displacement of 16,000 tons. It is currently recognized as the new destroyer with the largest tonnage and the latest design. "Zumwalter" not only has a very sci-fi appearance, but also has a unique hull configuration, and the systems and equipment it carries represent the most advanced ship-based power. Public information shows that "Zumwalt" uses an all-electric system, and its radar reflection area is even equivalent to that of a fishing boat, which means it has extremely strong stealth ability. At the same time, "Zumwalt" uses a 155mm AGS naval gun system with an amazing range of 185 kilometers. Previously, "Zumwalt" had many failure problems, but the US Navy officially announced its deployment this time, which can be confirmed that after repeated adjustments and modifications, the reliability of "Zumwalt" has reached a practical level. So, is the US military deploying such an epoch-making warship to Japan specifically to deal with the 055? I have the following three views on this.

The picture shows "Zumwalt"

First of all, "Zumwalt" has an awkward positioning and does not have the ability to fight 055. Zumwalter's project originated from After the collapse of of the Soviet Union, the US Navy will extend its control to the offshore area, consolidate maritime hegemony through the "from sea to land" strategy, and eliminate the potential threat of the US Navy to the greatest extent. Based on this strategic concept, Zumwalter is equipped with an advanced naval gun system, which improves stealth capabilities and tries to become the main force of the US Navy's ground strike. The 055 destroyer can be said to be a hard work by China's shipbuilding industry. While it has made a breakthrough in tonnage, its design concept has also made a qualitative leap. The 055 is equipped with a multi-unit vertical launch device that greatly improves the Chinese Navy's over-visual range combat capability. Coupled with its constantly updated radar system and Eagle Strike 21 anti-ship ballistic missile, the 055 has long formed a complete long-range attack and defense system. Under such conditions, "Zumwalter" as a special ground warship cannot pose a substantial threat to the 055 at all.

The picture shows "Zumwalt" and the 055 model

Secondly, "Zumwalt" has great disadvantages in design and has low practical survival ability. "Zumwalt" class focuses on ground strikes in its design. The two highly anticipated main guns occupy the main central axis of the hull, which leads to it being equipped with only 80-unit MK57 vertical hair device, with a diameter of only 710 mm, while 055 uses 112-unit 850 mm vertical hair device. At this point, "Zumwalt" cannot compete with 055 at all. The most important thing is that "Zumwalt" may not be able to do so during design. Without considering the large-scale application of the vertical hair system, the installed vertical hair system is actually distributed on both sides of the ship. This has been criticized by many media, and even called it "vertical hair reaction armor". At the same time, this design also means that the survival of "Zumwalter" itself will only be guaranteed by its stealth ability. Once it is directly hit by torpedo , its hull is very likely to explode. Such a destroyer cannot have an effective role in actual combat confrontation.

Finally, "Zumwalter" did not form effective combat power, and its experimental significance was more than actual combat significance.At first, "Zumwalt" used many advanced systems and equipment in its design, but due to the serious overspending of the budget, its number was continuously reduced from the 32 planned initially, and only 3 were built. At the same time, its related equipment has been repeatedly reduced. For example, the US Navy's proud DBR dual-band radar and NIFC-CA ship-electric systems have been severely castrated during implementation, and its air defense and anti-missile capabilities have been greatly reduced. The US Navy sent such a "semi-finished" "Zumwalt" to the Asia-Pacific region, probably not to rely on it to complete complex tasks. It is more likely to improve its equipment based on application, and even use its advanced hull as a model to expand its maritime strength.

The picture shows the "Zumwalt"

In general, the advanced nature of the "Zumwalt" is indeed worthy of attention. However, given the lack of combat environment, it does not have strong practical capabilities. The main purpose of "Zumwalt" to come to the Asia-Pacific is not only to demonstrate the military existence of the US Navy, but also to explore the subsequent development route of the Navy while supplementing the Seventh Fleet . At present, only the Chinese Navy is likely to technically achieve catching up with the United States, especially the 055. The US Navy has also given it a very high evaluation and compared its new warship with the 055. For the United States, on the one hand, it can test the comprehensive strength of the Chinese Navy, and on the other hand, it can also summarize experience in confrontation, so that the United States can develop the next generation of missile destroyer . Therefore, we do not have to be too nervous about the arrival of the "Zumwalter", but we cannot lose our vigilance. I hope that the Chinese Navy can also learn from the advanced design of the United States in confrontation and take the construction of coastal defense further.