USS Zumwalt commissioned

[chopper2004]

http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg1000/Pages/default.aspx#.WAnE_iTEHYB

In light of all the excitement with the Russian carrier battle group sailing past us, the USS Zumwalt was commissioned this week. Apparently its flight deck can take an F-35B so I read somwhere else and the XO used to be a local resident around here 2 decades ago at JAC ....

Though was not overly sure about if they had hangar space for MH-60R as the Arleigh Burke had helipad but not hangarage?

Best of luck to her on the high seas,

cheers

[Obi Wan Russell]

The first batch of Arleigh Burke class DDGs had a helipad but no hangar; they were intended to refuel and re arm other ship's helos within the battle group, and building a ship that size with no helipad made no sense. The first 21 ships (Flight I) and the next 7 (Flight II) have no hangar but all following ships (34 Flight IIA) have a double hangar for two SeaHawk helicopters. The Flight III ships will also have the double hangar.

[4everAD]

Wow, that's one very futuristic design. Somehow it slightly negates worrying about Russia's (only) carrier that can't go out of port without a tug incase it breaks down!

[melmothtw]

Wow, that's one very futuristic design. Somehow it slightly negates worrying about Russia's (only) carrier that can't go out of port without a tug incase it breaks down!

I read recently (can't remember where, maybe Twitter) that the US Navy currently has only one ship that was designed after 1985 available for operations, with the rest being tied up in port due to serviceability issues. Don't know if that's true.

[Tech Guy]

"Captain James Kirk".

I wonder if he is waiting for CVN-80 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-80)) to get built. :):)

[Lonewolf_50]

I read recently (can't remember where, maybe Twitter) that the US Navy currently has only one ship that was designed after 1985 available for operations, with the rest being tied up in port due to serviceability issues. Don't know if that's true.
Mel, the recent problems with LCS (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/09/17/lcs-montgomery-suffers-two-engine-casualties-days-commissioning.html)might be what you refer to. Seems fine ship to get one fired as CO. (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/10/14/lcs-commander-fired-engine-breakdown.html)

[sandiego89]

Apparently its flight deck can take an F-35B...


I very much doubt the F-35B will ever operate from a cruiser/destroyer pad. It would be VTOL only with no meaningful payload. Party trick only.


that the US Navy currently has only one ship that was designed after 1985 available for operations, with the rest being tied up in port due to serviceability issues. Don't know if that's true.


That is very much untrue. The LCS ships (both designs) have had some problems keeping them in port, but there are many other ships at sea right now just fine thank you.

[ShotOne]

Is the name "Zumwalt" designed to strike fear into America's enemies? What's wrong with names like "Dreadnought"?

[West Coast]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmo_Zumwalt

[riff_raff]

I believe the Zumwalts only have hanger space for one MH-60R and two or three RQ-80 UAV helos. Would not be smart to park aircraft on the open deck of a ship relying on stealth.

[T28B]

Hmm, did the American Navy borrow this idea from the Kirov cruiser's helicopter hangar idea?

1122

[seafury45]

complete landlubber questions.

Is that bow designed to pierce waves rather than ride over them? And, how does it perform compared to conventional bows?

[TBM-Legend]

New French frigate design...

Note the bow>>>
Euronaval 2016: French Navy's new frigate design unveiled | IHS Jane's 360 (http://www.janes.com/article/64763/euronaval-2016-french-navy-s-new-frigate-design-unveiled)

[Lima Juliet]

That bow design is nothing new - HMS CANOPUS in 1911...

https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot-restricted/ships/ships-uk/hms_canopus_battleship_1911-34132.jpg

[MPN11]

Ah, but Canopus had a ram, did it not?

I suspect there will be a hydrodynamics contributor along shortly to explain the sea-keeping rationale behind the modern bow shape.

[pettinger93]

Am not a hydrodynamics expert, but have 45 years experience of operating and the general design of ships. The underwater profile at the front of ZUMWALT is the bulbous bow, (not a ram!), which you can also see on many civilian ships. It reduces drag by changing the waveform further back down the ship. It also provides extra buoyancy up front which allows the forward ship's hull to be thinner and thus also reducing drag. The above waterline profile is, I suspect , due to the need to reduce the radar visibility of the ship : 'pointy' bits such as a conventional bow are very visible to radar, so the designers have raked it back to fare it with the rest of the ship's topsides. Not sure how well it will perform in a big 'head sea', but every design is a compromise. The ship does indeed, however, have a strange resemblance to warships of the late 19th and early 20th century.

[MPN11]

Good enough for me, Sir ... thanks for the exposition!

[Lima Juliet]

I'm surprised no-one has picked up on the skipper's name...

...Captain James Kirk :cool:

Also, she has Rolls-Royce engines :ok:

[MPN11]

LJ ... Post #5 seems to cover the Captain issue ;)

As for the engines ... I hope they're not the same as in the T45.

[The Oberon]

I do have a bit of a problem with the stealth ship concept. I'm pretty sure I read about early experiments with marine stealth, could be Kelly Johnson's book, worked fine with a cleaned up synthetic display but some aged, hairy a***d operator switched to a raw radar display, tweaked the gain and range settings and there, in the middle of all the wave top returns, was a blank hole, just where the stealth ship was.

[MPN11]

As someone who 'grew up' with raw radar [i.e. MPN11 :)] a bit of fiddling with gain controls etc. can work wonders.

Same with the old PAR. You could reduce a VC-10 to 3 blips [nose, wings, tail/engines] and also see the RHAG cable on the runway.

[West Coast]

Tried that with a B2, nothing. Stealth doesn't mean it's not invisible to RADAR. Between tactics, intelligence data and reduced signature, stealth works.

[The Oberon]

Tried that with a B2, nothing. Stealth doesn't mean it's not invisible to RADAR. Between tactics, intelligence data and reduced signature, stealth works.
Was that ground to air where there isn't much clutter? Air to ground with the associated clutter must be different?

[Bing]

Was that ground to air where there isn't much clutter? Air to ground with the associated clutter must be different?
You just have to make sure you give enough of a return to look like clutter, which can't be beyond the wit of man. Especially if you're being paid several $Billion to do it.

[Lima Juliet]

MPN11 - thanks, d'oh! :ugh:

[Lima Juliet]

I got a lock on a F117 once whilst we were doing an offensive VID. The USAF weren't too happy when I blurted out the ID of the aircraft on a clear frequency!!!! Apparently at the time it was 'optimised for surface to air threats'.

As others have said, and other countries have done, you can develop techniques to see most things within the EM spectrum; you just need to be sneaky or someone will develop a counter to your counter and then the EW merry-go-round begins. :8

LJ :ok:

[Out Of Trim]

Engines are Rolls Royce MT30s, similar to those in the Queen Elizabeth class Aircraft Carrier.

[Bevo]

I got a lock on a F117 once whilst we were doing an offensive VID. The USAF weren't too happy when I blurted out the ID of the aircraft on a clear frequency!!!! Apparently at the time it was 'optimised for surface to air threats'.The F-117 employed signature augmentation "devices" to increase its signature on many missions including deployments. These were removed for operational scenarios.

[sandiego89]

T28B: Hmm, did the American Navy borrow this idea from the Kirov cruiser's helicopter hangar idea?



T28B. I believe the Zumwalt does not have a below deck hangar or elevator like the Kirov- just a straight in traditional hangar in the aft end of the main superstructure, just like most every US Destroyer, frigate or cruiser that has a hangar has had for decades. The track lines you see on the deck are for winching helos/UAVs in and out, not elevator outlines.


A better question would be did the Kirov borrow their hangar/elevator idea from the US CGN Virginia class? which may have borrowed the below deck idea from the USS Baltimore class of WWII era.....

[Lonewolf_50]

sandiego89 appears to be right about the helicopter hangar:
See the picture here. (It's too big to import onto PPRuNe.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/12/07/16/cu6rthdRwa5e75a04f6c593ae44-3349443-The_first_Zumwalt_class_destroyer_the_USS_Zumwalt_the_larges t_ev-a-12_1449506093883.jpg