The Navy wants to buy its first next-generation guided missile destroyer by 2032, but first there are there are some details that need to be hammered out for replacing the trusty Arleigh Burke-class ships the service has fielded since the early 90s—and plans to keep in the water “likely into the 2070s,” the director of surface warfare said Tuesday.
One of those considerations is power, Rear Adm. Bill Daly told an audience at the Surface Navy Association’s symposium outside Washington, D.C.
“U.S. households consume 40% more power than when we first built DDG 51s, and that consumption has translated into ships as well,” he said.
To wit, the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Navy to look into the feasibility of a power system that can generate 40 megawatts of reserve power.
“That is a requirement evolution that we must get right for DDG(X), quickly,” he said.
There’s also the matter of on-board weapons systems, and decisions to make about whether the traditional 5-inch gun still makes sense, versus something like the lasers the Navy has been developing for years.
“Second, every time you watch an impressive video of what meshed drones can do, please ask yourself: Would I rather have a large-bore shotgun, a directed-energy weapon, or both, for DDG(X)?” Daly said, alluding to the unmanned aerial vehicle attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea over the last year. “That is a requirement evolution that we need to get correct quickly.”
The first rendering of DDG(X), unveiled at the 2022 SNA symposium, featured a 5-inch Mark 45 Mod 4 on the bow of the ship, but there are signs that the Navy has been rethinking that configuration.
As spotted by Naval News, the gun has been removed in a new DDG(X) rendering printed onto a farewell cake for outgoing Program Executive Office Ships director Capt. Matt Shroeder, posted to the command’s LinkedIn page in December.
“The Navy is committed to DDG(X), and as proof, [the surface warfare division] is actively funding PEO Ships’ purchases of major equipment for the mandated land-based test site to make sure that we get this ship right,” Daly said.
