Originally Posted by
andytug
They have a nasty habit of destroying themselves, but if they can get it to work it's a fame changer, no nasty explosives to carry around and a shell that goes Mach 5 is impossible to defend against with current technology. It's a very very big if though.....
Think the Zumwalt is a bit different, it uses fancy hybrid shell/missile technology which is why the rounds cost $800k each, and since they're not building many more ships the supply of said rounds has dried up.
You are confusing the DDG 1000 155mm gun and a rail gun. two completely different things. The 155mm is a guided munition but because the class buy went from 32 down to 3 hulls munitions have become extremely expensive. It is not widely known, but BAE is responsible for the 155mm.
The rail gun is about to get fitted to a littoral support ship for trials and yes, Zimwalt has plenty of Megawatts available from the 4 RR engines.