The Navy’s ‘Hypersonic Battleships’? The Stealth Zumwalt-Class Is Making a Comeback

Key Points and Summary – The U.S. Navy is reinventing the Zumwalt-class destroyers as its first surface ships armed with Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles.

-By ripping out the failed Advanced Gun Systems and installing new vertical launch tubes, each of the three ships could carry up to twelve Mach 5-plus weapons, giving the small fleet a deep-strike role in the Indo-Pacific.

(April 21, 2021) The Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) leads a formation including the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS Spruance (DDG 111), USS Pinckney (91), and USS Kidd (DDG 100), and the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) during U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem (UxS IBP) 21, April 21. UxS IBP 21 integrates manned and unmanned capabilities into challenging operational scenarios to generate warfighting advantages. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shannon Renfroe)

-Forward-basing Zumwalts alongside hypersonic-armed submarines would let Washington threaten high-value targets ashore while staying outside many defenses. Once dismissed as a costly mistake, the class is fast becoming a test case for America’s hypersonic future at sea.

Are Hypersonic Missiles Bringing the Zumwalt-Class Back to Life?

The U.S. Navy is dramatically transforming the once-beleaguered Zumwalt-class destroyer fleet into the service’s first operational sea-launched hypersonic strike platform – and that pace of that conversion suggests that hypersonic firepower could arrive much sooner than initially anticipated.

In recent months, the lead ship, USS Zumwalt, appears to have left dry dock with newly installed launch tubes designed for hypersonic missiles.

The news is significant; global powers like China are racing to develop similar capabilities, and the U.S. is getting ahead of the problem by repurposing what was once considered an expensive naval misstep.

And in the process, the U.S. could be transforming this class of destroyers into something revolutionary.

From Overpriced Gunship to Hypersonic Platform

When the Zumwalt-class destroyers were first conceived, they were intended to be the future of naval warfare.

They had stealthy hulls, electric propulsion, advanced automation, and heavy firepower, all meant to support amphibious assaults and long-range land strikes.

The lead ship of the class, the USS Zumwalt, was commissioned in 2016, promising to revolutionize surface combat completely.

But ambitions were one thing, and reality soon struck.

Zumwalt-Class U.S. Navy. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The destroyers were intended to employ twin 155 mm Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) and to fire precision-guided, long-range projectiles. Those munitions, however, proved to be prohibitively expensive for the platform, eventually forcing the Navy to cancel procurement.

The problem effectively left the Zumwalt without its long-range attack capabilities, making it an expensive exercise with little payoff.

The planned class of 32 ships was therefore cut significantly. Only three boats were built, and the program, which cost roughly $8 billion for three boats, has long since been criticized as a huge failure and a massive, costly overreach.

Despite all the setbacks and controversy, the Zumwalt class ultimately retained significant value. Its stealth profile, its new electric propulsion, and a host of advanced systems made it worthwhile for something: specifically, as a test-bed for emerging technologies. And now, the Navy is building on that value and potential, converting the class into a hypersonic missile platform under the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) weapons program. 

As part of the overhaul, the ship’s obsolete AGS turrets have been removed, and large, vertical-launch missile tubes have been installed in their place.

On USS Zumwalt, workers completed the overhaul at a shipyard in Mississippi, and according to Navy sources, each ship is expected to carry four tubes, each of which can launch three missiles.

That gives the vessel a theoretical loadout of up to 12 hypersonic weapons. Across the three-ship class, that translates to a potential combined salvo of 36 hypersonic missiles. 

Why Hypersonic Missiles Matter 

Hypersonic missiles are weapons that travel at speeds above Mach 5, often using a boost-glide trajectory.

This process sees a vehicle launched into the upper atmosphere aboard a rocket, before separating from a booster engine.

These weapons pose a fundamentally different challenge for missile defenses because their speed, altitude, and potential maneuverability make them difficult to detect and intercept using conventional systems. It’s clear, therefore, why the Navy is integrating the weapons into surface ships.

The U.S. is anticipating future warfare trends based on what we know about rival powers accelerating their own hypersonic weapons developments.

For the U.S., it’s imperative to field comparable – or superior – capabilities before adversaries successfully embed them into their own force postures.

The Zumwalt conversions are a core component of this process and future power-projection strategy, especially in regions like the Indo-Pacific.

Reports from this year indicate that the Navy is considering basing Zumwalt destroyers, along with other CPS-capable submarines, at forward hubs such as Hawaii.  

That’s obvious, quite a milestone, but in more ways than one.

Basing the Zumwalts here would be a markedly different strategy than usual; unlike traditional cruise-missile arsenals that require proximity to the adversary, a stealthy, hypersonic-armed destroyer loitering near contested waters could deliver precision strikes more rapidly and deeper inland – all while preserving its survivability.

For the Navy, the upgrade offers a second chance for these ships – and it’s not just a “make do” scenario. The Zumwalts are about to become truly valuable assets.

So, when are they coming?

It won’t be decades – in fact, it might just be a few more years. As of early 2025, the USS Zumwalt had already completed its physical refit and had its missile tubes installed.

The next planned milestone is a live-fire test of a CPS missile from the destroyer, tentatively aimed at 2027.

About the Author:

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York who writes frequently for National Security Journal. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he analyzes and understands left-wing and right-wing radicalization and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.