[Defense Column] The World's Most Expensive Destroyer Is

[Military Analyst Kim Daeyoung] On April 24 last year (local time), the DDG-1000 Zumwalt, commissioned by the U.S. Navy, became known as the most expensive destroyer in the world. The cost per ship, converted at the exchange rate at the time of the launching ceremony in 2014, exceeded 5 trillion won. A warship of a similar price range is the French Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

Along with its high price, it boasts the largest size among existing destroyers. Its length is 186 meters, beam 24.6 meters, and displacement?the weight of the ship itself?reaches 15,995 tons. The next largest destroyer after the Zumwalt is China’s Type 055 destroyer. The Zumwalt began as the U.S. Navy’s 21st-century destroyer construction plan called 'DD-21.' Later, DD-21 was renamed DD(X). The DD(X) program, which gained momentum in the early 2000s, initially planned to build 32 ships, but this number was reduced to 24 and then further cut to 7 due to enormous development costs.

However, budget constraints continued to hamper the project, and eventually, only three ships were constructed. The Zumwalt was originally designed to provide ground fire support using its naval guns. In the early 1990s, four Iowa-class battleships operated by the U.S. Navy were retired following the end of the Cold War. The Iowa-class battleships, equipped with nine 16-inch (406mm) guns, played active roles in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. Interestingly, although they were withdrawn from frontline service after the Korean War, some ships returned to active duty during the Vietnam War.

Then, in 1984, under the Reagan administration’s 600-ship Navy initiative, the four Iowa battleships were upgraded and returned to active service. The reason for the Iowa-class battleships’ retirement and subsequent return was the 16-inch guns. These guns, with a maximum range of 38 km, demonstrated formidable power in actual combat. It is still said that the U.S. Marine Corps, which received significant support from the Iowa-class battleships, regretted their retirement. Although smaller than the Iowa-class guns, the Zumwalt is equipped with two 155mm 62-caliber guns.

The Zumwalt’s guns, known as the Advanced Gun System (AGS), can fire up to 10 rounds per minute. Additionally, using the precision-guided Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP), it can strike ground targets up to 150 km away. The 80 vertical launch cells on the Zumwalt carry dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles with ranges exceeding 1,000 km. For air defense, it uses SM-2 and ESSM fleet air defense missiles. The Zumwalt boasts powerful firepower along with high survivability. From development, stealth capabilities were enhanced to reduce radar detectability, so despite its massive size, it reportedly appears on radar as a small fishing boat.

The Zumwalt uses an integrated electric propulsion system, which emits very low noise. It also employs the SPY-3 radar, an AESA-type system, and is equipped with the U.S. Navy’s first dual-frequency advanced sonar, the AN/SQQ-90, which matches the destroyer’s price. Besides the Zumwalt, its sister ships Michael Monsoor and Lyndon B. Johnson are planned to be commissioned into the U.S. Navy in the future. The Zumwalt is scheduled to be deployed to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, with its homeport rumored to be Sasebo, Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.