The Zumwalt-class destroyer is an ever-growing boondoggle
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After https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/world-most-expensive-destroyer-zumwalt-delays" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ten years of upgrades, repairs, and program-related issues, the lead Zumwalt-class destroyer is finally https://www.twz.com/sea/uss-zumwalt-set-to-return-to-fleet-after-long-anticipated-hypersonic-missile-upgrade" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">returning to service this September.
But it will have to go without the hypersonic missiles many https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/hypersonic-savior-the-brilliant-move-that-just-saved-the-zumwalt-class-from-becoming-a-u-s-navy-boondoggle/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hoped would give the troubled program a purpose.
Thanks to ongoing modernization efforts, the lead Zumwalt-class destroyer now https://www.twz.com/sea/uss-zumwalt-set-to-return-to-fleet-after-long-anticipated-hypersonic-missile-upgrade" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">has a launcher, making it the Navy’s https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/07/the-navy-spent-9-5-billion-a-ship-to-give-the-zumwalt-twelve-hypersonic-missiles-a-40-year-old-cruiser-carries-ten-times-the-cells/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first hypersonic strike ship.
But the missiles themselves will https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-07-20/hypersonic-missile-navy-army-delay-2027-22317106.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">not be tested until next year, as the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile rollout is https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-107974.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">about two years behind schedule.
Experts tell RS the problem is par for the course for the Zumwalt program.
“The Zumwalt program had extraordinary promise,” Ben Freeman, the director of the Quincy Institute’s Democratizing Foreign Policy program, wrote to RS. “But it was curtailed from 32 ships to just 3 for a reason: it didn't come close to living up to that promise.”
The Zumwalt’s initial role as a land-attack ship was https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/news/2016/11/09/at-800-000-per-round/21835526007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">scrapped in 2016 after ammunition for its land-attack gun became prohibitively costly, https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-lrlap-gun-rounds-2016-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reaching $800,000 to $1 million per round.
Beyond that, “they couldn't get the [ship’s] weapon to work properly,” Dan Grazier, who directs the Stimson Center’s National Security Reform program, told RS.
In the end, the military https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/world-most-expensive-destroyer-zumwalt-delays" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">built three Zumwalts at a cost of $9.5 billion per ship.
Now, https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/07/the-navy-spent-9-5-billion-a-ship-to-give-the-zumwalt-twelve-hypersonic-missiles-a-40-year-old-cruiser-carries-ten-times-the-cells/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">efforts to convert the remaining vessels into hypersonic strike ships have only steered the program into more procurement issues.
“They foisted an unproven missile system with its own checkered acquisition history onto the Zumwalt seemingly in hopes that two wrongs would make a right,” Freeman said. “Spoiler: they didn't.”
The Pentagon plans to https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/navy-army-risk-wasting-money-time-without-unified-hypersonic-missile-strategy-gao/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">invest $50 billion into developing and fielding its https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/navy-army-risk-wasting-money-time-without-unified-hypersonic-missile-strategy-gao/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CPS hypersonic capability across Army and Navy programs.
But a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report published last week https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-107974.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">found the project "does not have a comprehensive strategy" to accomplish its objectives.
Canceled and https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/30/politics/us-hypersonic-missile-test-fails" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">failed test flights and quality control issues also plague the hypersonic missile program.
One test, for example, was https://news.usni.org/2023/03/16/army-and-navy-cancelled-march-hypersonic-test-due-to-battery-failure" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">canceled in 2023 after a battery failure during a pre-launch check.
Lockheed Martin can only make six or seven hypersonic missiles each year, https://defensescoop.com/2026/07/17/gao-lockheed-martin-struggling-build-navy-hypersonic-missile-at-scale/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">short of the military’s target of 12 missiles, https://defensescoop.com/2026/07/17/gao-lockheed-martin-struggling-build-navy-hypersonic-missile-at-scale/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jeopardizing the program’s ability to scale.
Meanwhile, costs are compounding for the Zumwalt, with questionable payoff.
The hypersonic missile capability https://defence-industry.eu/lockheed-martin-secures-1-36-billion-contract-to-advance-conventional-prompt-strike-hypersonic-missile-program/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">will tack on about $452 million to the cost of each destroyer.
Each ship will only be able to https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/07/the-navy-spent-9-5-billion-a-ship-to-give-the-zumwalt-twelve-hypersonic-missiles-a-40-year-old-cruiser-carries-ten-times-the-cells/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">carry 12 hypersonic missiles, which https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/07/the-navy-spent-9-5-billion-a-ship-to-give-the-zumwalt-twelve-hypersonic-missiles-a-40-year-old-cruiser-carries-ten-times-the-cells/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">leaves them with far fewer munitions than their naval counterparts.
The missiles themselves are https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/navy-army-risk-wasting-money-time-without-unified-hypersonic-missile-strategy-gao/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars each.
As Freeman concluded, “taxpayer dollars will still be wasted until the Navy comes to its senses.”