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[GrantDaNasty]

Nice to see the Navy are also fans of the Early-3D era of graphics.

Alternatively: Looks like we can finally get 60fps/1080p games on these current consoles with designs like these.

 

[Protein]

Ah yeah America. 4 billion dollars to sink 400 dollar pirate rubber boats. Cut more welfare, we need to kill things harder.

 

[sflufan]

Why do we need this?

To counter Chinese naval expansion.

 

[Enduin]

The future is ugly.

 

[dalin80]

Fire up the rail gun!

OK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uV1SbEuzFU



The Type 45 is a nice example of politicians not quite getting *it*.

We want 12 new advanced destroyers!
-ok, that's going to cost 6 billion due to massive R+D costs.
That's far too much! Only 10 then!
-ok, but as you aren't spreading those massive R+D costs over as many hulls the total is still about 6 billion.
That's far too much! Only 8 then!
-ok, but as you aren't spreading those massive R+D costs over as many hulls the total is still about 6 billion.
That's far too much! Only 6 then!
-ok, but as you aren't spreading those massive R+D costs over as many hulls the total is still about 6 billion.
That's far too much! Cancel everything!
-ok, but you realise those R+D costs have already been spent and the navy don't have any ships left right?
Shit...

 

[Sealed]

Why do we need this?

the same reason we buy video games and never play them

 

[PeskyToaster]

So they spent 20 billion dollars on research and only plan on building 3?

Well the research doesn't just exist on an island. You can apply it to other projects and make improvements elsewhere even beyond the military.

 

[TCRS]

noice

 

[NH Apache]

Why do we need this?

90% of the world's trade is via ocean going vessels.

 

[Angry Grimace]

So you have to hit it 3 times to sink it instead of 2?

 

[Proelite]

This is like the ugliest warship ever made in the history of man.

 

[Wheeljack539]

I wish Captain James Kirk the best of luck for the sea trials of his new command.

He needs this so that way he'll be ready for USS Enterprise CVN-80 in a decade.

 

[massoluk]

So you have to hit it 3 times to sink it instead of 2?

Whatever it is, throw enough spearmen at it and eventually it will go down.

 

[Angry Grimace]

This is like the ugliest warship ever made in the history of man.

I mean, 100% of them are ugly compared to say, 1600s Spanish Galleons.

 

[boiled goose]

4 billion.

each of us paid about $13 for it. Not THAT bad.

 

[pestul]

I wish Canada had 10 of these instead of the F35 project. :/

 

[Mudcrab]

Why do we need this?

Because eventually your going need to replace the current Navy with one that can deal with the threat of Hyper-sonic missiles. This is the first step in a long project, it doesn't even have the weapons and defensive system it needs yet hence the future proofing with it's power output.

 

[commedieu]

So you have to hit it 3 times to sink it instead of 2?

Just once with a Chinese Hypersonic weapon.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/china-tests-new-hypersonic-weapon/

 

[Bananajama]

My first thought

 

[SyNapSe]

4 billion.

each of us paid about $13 for it. Not THAT bad.

Do I get like an hour where I can drive it around and fire off a few shots?

 

[GrantDaNasty]

This is like the ugliest warship ever made in the history of man.

Aesthetics aren't exactly a top priority when building weapons of war I imagine.

 

[RoyalFool]

This is like the ugliest warship ever made in the history of man.

Needs more dazzle camouflage

 

[Mudcrab]

Just once with a Chinese Hypersonic weapon.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/china-tests-new-hypersonic-weapon/

It's not just China either, Russia is also years ahead in the development of Hyper sonic weaponry.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

It's rather plain and dull looking. Wasn't expecting that.

 

[Snake]

Looks as if it could submerge.

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

It's rather plain and dull looking. Wasn't expecting that.

Stealth profile, you don't want junk on the outside to catch radar.

 

[Geist-]

To counter Chinese naval expansion.

This is a sad reality we live in. And people ask what we would use it for and honestly, the best weapons of war are ones you never have to use. They just have to look intimidating which is absolutely fine with me. I think military spending could be cut a bit or at the very least become more efficient in its spending, but I would never want our country to lose its position as the top military power in the world.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Classic human design, all lines and no sexy.

I prefer Asari or Turian way of thinking.

 

[gamechanger87]

Just once with a Chinese Hypersonic weapon.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/china-tests-new-hypersonic-weapon/

Its not as though these weapons are a surprise to the military. The fact that we are hearing about them publicly means that the military has known about them for awhile. The directed energy weapons are one of the counters.

Creating a missile that can fly high fast and glide at absurd speed to its target is one thing. Creating one that can hit its maneuvering target is the harder task. Beyond all of the jamming and other countermeasures this won't be a heat seeker, it needs to be able to navigate to it and have made all of its course corrections prior to the dive. Latest estimates I've seen are that this type of missile won't be able to be a real threat for at least two decades.

The US was testing Mach 15 HGVs back in the 1960s and had an operational design back in 1979-1980.

The Pershing II was a similar system as well.

 

[Incognito]

God bless America.

 

[Phoenix]

The Navy doesn't want to build any more than the plan because of "changes in the threat" (i.e. this fucker is expensive as hell) and we still need more destroyers.

 

[Guy.brush]

Low poly world domination!

 

[antonz]

Size wise it is basically a Light Cruiser. Size and Displacement put it comparable to the Cleveland Class Cruisers from WWII.

In the end the Zumwalts will just be proof of concept ships that test and ensure the new technologies work for the next classes of ships which will not be so insanely expensive. The reality is the Navy needs to get kicked in the ass a bit as recent R&D decisions etc have been complete bullshit. The men who designed the LCS should be barred from future projects for instance. Lets design a shore combat ship that a single RPG can knock out. That's common sense

 

[foxuzamaki]

IT might be because I'm on mobile but I wish we had something better to get a better scale of it.

 

[Bagels]

I did an internship at Bath in 2001. They had many of the proposal drawings done and it was blowing everyone's minds at the time.

Rumors are that she'll do 40+ knots and with the bowform, the DDG will cut through bad weather.

Really interested in seeing how the sea trials go.

Some basic specs:

14564 Long tons displacement at DWL

600 ft length on waterline
80.7 ft beam
27.6 ft draft

105,000 shaft horspower

142 complement


Armament:

Oh, and the kicker: Commanding officer is Captain James Kirk.



Hah, I think this started when they split the old DDG contact with Avondale?

Wikipedia says it's from WWII. BIW ships have a reputation for being extra sturdy. I remember when the USS Samuel B. Roberts survived hitting an Iranian mine in 1988. I was in Maine that summer when they started transporting it back to the shipyard. Lots of local pride that it survived and they could repair it!

 

[Archer]

To counter Chinese naval expansion.

And to stay ahead of them tech-wise.

 

[MikeDown]

Sweden have a stealth corvette class that was put in commission in 2009

I believe it was the first stealth ship

not very stealthy in this picture

 

[NH Apache]

IT might be because I'm on mobile but I wish we had something better to get a better scale of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOx8upaSj6w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_jwFxCHm1c

 

[FStop7]

So they spent 20 billion dollars on research and only plan on building 3?

Do you think those Raytheon executives' homes in Malibu pay for themselves?

 

[Just take it with you.]

Off to fight the Monitor, I take it?

 

[TwEE-N-Toast]

She sure is ugly.

 

[kiunchbb]

I am excited to see what kind of shipgirl design kancolle will give to that destroyer.

 

[GIANKRATOS]

Looks like a star wars ship

 

[Geist-]

Sweden have a stealth corvette class that was put in commission in 2009

I believe it was the first stealth ship

It's interesting, but in my honest opinion not as cool/futuristic as the Zumwalt. That's just aesthetics though, I'm sure it's a cool ship in its own right.

 

[GPsych]

Just once with a Chinese Hypersonic weapon.

http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/china-tests-new-hypersonic-weapon/

Nope. The Zumwalt has Philadelphia Experiment tech integrated onboard. It'll just teleport out of the way.

 

[Guy.brush]

Do you think those Raytheon executives' homes in Malibu pay for themselves?

Those 30.000 $ toilet seats..

 

[dalin80]

The Navy doesn't want to build any more than the plan because of "changes in the threat" (i.e. this fucker is expensive as hell) and we still need more destroyers.

The navy and it's budget have kind of been broadsided by the Freedom class shitbox, these were supposed to pick up the slack in other missions but all they have picked up so far is an extensive repair list.

This has tied up a chunk of money and personal which the navy would much rather spend elsewhere.

They really really don't want anymore of those barely floating disasters but unfortunately the builders have enough lobbying power to make it a forced deal. So in the end the Navy decided to say 'fuck it! We will just have some the average ships instead, being a few years behind is better then being stuck with a fleet of water-borne syphilis.'

 

[Pristine_Condition]

So they spent 20 billion dollars on research and only plan on building 3?

According to Janes, the R&D budget covers a lot of basic science regarding the overall design. This is science/R&D research that isn't exclusive to this particular ship design, but are resultant technologies that will likely find their way to designs across the future fleet in all manner of classes of ships, big and small.

For this reason -- the radical design and all the new technologies and even the rather radical new crewing philosophy of the ship (The design reduces the amount of crew running the ship by a lot, which means altering the crew workload and command structure to something akin to a much smaller vessel,) -- and changes in the Navy's fleet requirements, the Navy decided to trip the order to make these three ships more of a technology and crew/command testbed, rather than commit to a larger number that they may or may not end up liking.

Remember, as modern as the US Navy is, at the higher levels of command there's a lot of traditionalists. A lot of Naval commanders today got into the field with boyhood dreams of commanding WWI and WWII-style "big crew, big iron, big guns, big steering wheel" ships. There's a lot of ego in commanding a big crew and whatnot. And none of these guys got into the business thinking they'd be captaining a ship and her command deck would look like a call center for an IT company. So there's a lot of resistance to these streamlined systems right now.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

He needs this so that way he'll be ready for USS Enterprise CVN-80 in a decade.

Better chance he'd be an admiral by then if he's still in the Navy in 10+ years.

That would still work out of course.

 

[Inversive]

Looks like a colossal waste of money to me