USS Zumwalt’s Recent Pacific Underway is ‘First Step’ for Future of the Class, Says PACFLEET Commander

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) returns to San Diego, Nov. 10, 2022. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ahead of next year’s installation of hypersonic missiles, the Navy took one of its most advanced warships out for a three-month underway in the Western Pacific to test the ship’s capabilities and reliability, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet told USNI News.

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), this month, wrapped up an operational testing period in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, giving the service the opportunity to...

Navy Details Hypersonic Missile Plan for Zumwalt Destroyers, Virginia Submarines

Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., on Aug. 4, 2022 USNI News Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. – The trio of Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers could each field up to a dozen hypersonic missiles, with the first ship ready for testing in 2025, USNI News has learned.

The service has determined that the hull can accommodate four 87-inch missile tubes that can each hold multiple missiles, Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe the head of the Navy’s strategic systems programs, told...

Wolfe: Modernized Trident Missiles Require Rigorous Testing As Navy Builds Columbia-Class

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN-739) off the coast of California. US Navy Phot

The senior admiral directing the strategic systems program placed a strong emphasis on the rigorous testing of modernized Trident missiles to ensure their accuracy and reliability, as the Navy transitions from the Ohio-class to the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines.

Speaking Thursday at an online forum of the Air Force Association’s...

https://news.usni.org/2021/01/15/wolfe-modernized-trident-missiles-require-rigorous-testing-as-navy-builds-columbia-class

Navy Says Hypersonic Weapons Coming to Subs in 5 Years

Members of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command’s Nuclear Examining Board ride a boat from the Ohio-class guided- missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN-729), operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility toward Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, Spain’s pier after an inspection. US Navy Photo

The Navy is on track to field a hypersonic strike weapon on submarines by 2025, the head of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs said today.

Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe said the hypersonic weapon, which will be used...

VIDEO: Pentagon Test Launches Prototype Hypersonic Weapon

A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time on March 19, 2020. U.S. Navy Photo

The template for a new generation of Army and Navy weapons was put to the test in a late Thursday missile launch in Hawaii.

A prototype of the joint common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) rode a modified Polaris A3 booster from a launch pad at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai. The successful test ended with the glide...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/20/video-pentagon-test-launches-prototype-hypersonic-weapon

Navy Confirms Global Strike Hypersonic Weapon Will First Deploy on Virginia Attack Subs

Rendering of Block V Virginia-class submarine with Virginia Payload Module. General Dynamics Electric Boat Image

The Navy intends to deploy its conventional prompt strike hypersonic weapon on Virginia-class attack submarines, after previous discussions of putting the weapon on the larger Ohio-class guided-missile submarine (SSGN), according to budget request documents.

In its Fiscal Year 2021 budget overview, the Navy outlines a research and development portfolio with 5 percent more funding than...

https://news.usni.org/2020/02/18/navy-confirms-global-strike-hypersonic-weapon-will-first-deploy-on-virginia-attack-subs

Navy Beginning Tech Study to Extend Trident Nuclear Missile Into the 2080s

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Rhode Island (SSBN-740) off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 9, 2019. US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy’s Strategic Systems Program this fiscal year will begin looking at what new technologies it will need to develop to sustain and modernize its nuclear weapons so they can operate on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines through the 2080s.

After the Trident D5 missiles underwent...

https://news.usni.org/2019/11/14/navy-beginning-tech-study-to-extend-trident-nuclear-missile-into-the-2080s

Faulty $5 Parts Cause 18-Month, $1 Billion Delay to Navy, Air Force Nuclear Upgrades

An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN-739) off the coast of California. US Navy Photo

Defects found in a $5 electrical component will delay the Navy and Air Force nuclear warhead refurbishment program by 18 months and cost more than $1 billion to fix, a National Nuclear Security Administration official said during a congressional hearing Wednesday.

The faulty components are small commercially available capacitors that were to...

https://news.usni.org/2019/09/25/faulty-5-parts-cause-18-month-1-billion-delay-to-navy-air-force-nuclear-upgrades