The Navy’s newest destroyer, the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), on April 20 set out to sea for acceptance trials, marking the beginning of the the final at-sea demonstrations before the ship is delivered to the service.
During acceptance trials, the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) will test shipboard systems such as navigation, propulsion readiness, auxiliary systems, habitability, fire protection and damage control, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) said.
The Zumwalt-class destroyers are built by General Dynamics [GD] Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.
A NAVSEA spokesman told Defense Daily he could not comment on how long acceptance trials are slated to last or the ship’s tentative delivery date.
After the ship is delivered, the Navy crew will be certified by Bath Iron Works and sail the ship to Baltimore for its commissioning ceremony on Oct. 15, he said. The Zumwalt will then move to its homeport of San Diego for mission systems activation.
Initial operational capability is planned for 2019.
The Zumwalt has undergone two previous at-sea demonstrations. During these builder’s trials in December and March, the crew put shipboard systems through their paces, including the vessel’s anchors, electric steering system, power handling and conditioning system, integrated power system and propulsion system. The crew also practiced deploying and recovering 11mm rigid inflatable boats.
During its first round of builder’s trials, DDG-1000 was called in to rescue a Maine fisherman who was having health problems (Defense Daily, Jan. 14). Rear Adm. David Gale, the Navy’s program executive officer for ships, in January said the Zumwalt had “performed exquisitely.”
Last month, the Congressional Research Service found the program cost grew by 3.7 percent, or about $450 million, about from fiscal years 2016 to 2017. The program cost has only increased by 1 percent since it was rebaselined in 2011, and is still well below the Nunn McCurdy threshold triggered by 15 percent cost growth, the Navy has said (Defense Daily, April 8)