The US Navy’s troubled Zumwalt-class destroyer is being recast as a long-range hypersonic strike asset as the US adapts its naval strategy to intensifying competition with China.
This month, multiple media outlets reported that the US Navy’s stealth destroyer USS Zumwalt returned to sea for the first time in nearly three years after completing builder’s sea trials following a major missile refit that transformed the ship into the service’s first surface combatant capable of fielding hypersonic weapons, according to US and industry officials.
The trials, conducted off Pascagoula, Mississippi, marked the culmination of extensive modernization by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII). The work began after the ship entered the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in August 2023. During the overhaul, the US Navy removed Zumwalt’s two 155-millimeter advanced gun systems (AGS).
It replaced them with four large missile tubes designed for the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) system, enabling the future deployment of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) missiles.
HII said the at-sea tests validated the performance of propulsion, navigation and combat systems following the refit, a milestone the company described as critical to setting the precedent for the three-ship Zumwalt class. US Navy officials say the destroyer is expected to be returned to the fleet later this year to support further testing ahead of achieving initial operational capability.
The US Navy plans to install the same hypersonic strike capability on sister ships USS Michael Monsoor and USS Lyndon B Johnson in the coming years as part of a broader push to add long-range conventional strike options to its surface fleet.
That refit reflects a deliberate redefinition of the Zumwalt class’s purpose—from a niche platform designed to support amphibious assaults at the shoreline into a stealthy, long-range strike asset meant to operate across contested maritime theaters and impose costs on adversaries well beyond the littoral.
The lead ship and namesake of the class, USS Zumwalt, was commissioned in 2016 as a stealthy shore bombardment platform. The class was intended to get close to enemy shores and destroy shore defenses and inland targets with its two 155-millimeter AGS, providing naval gunfire support.
Rising costs and China’s improving anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities made the Zumwalt-class in its previous configuration unfeasible. With only three ships built, the cost of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLRAP) for the AGS ballooned to at least USD 800,000 per round, making it uneconomical.
Further, China’s development of the DF-21 and DF-26 anti-ship ballistic missiles with ranges of 2,150 and 4,000 kilometers, respectively, increasingly threatens surface combatants operating close to contested coastlines.
However, the rebuilt Zumwalt-class, with CPS missiles having a 2,776-kilometer range and stealth features, could be integrated into a three-layer US concept of operations in the event of a US-China conflict over Taiwan.
Inside forces are designated to operate within China’s A2/AD zone within the First Island Chain, spanning Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. These forces consist of stealthy, numerous, dispersed and mobile assets that could survive an initial Chinese attack, operate within denied zones and retaliate.
They include nuclear attack submarines (SSNs), nuclear guided-missile submarines (SSGNs), 5th-generation stealth fighters, mobile missile launchers, drone swarms, and special operations forces.
Middle forces operate just outside China’s A2/AD zone, providing long-range precision strikes and supporting inside forces. These forces include surface action groups (SAGs) and 4th-generation fighters loaded with standoff munitions.
Zumwalt-class destroyers could be employed as part of a middle force, supplementing the tactical precision strike capabilities of the inside force SSGNs and middle force guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) with conventional strikes against strategic targets deep in mainland China, such as command centers, logistics hubs, and staging areas, adding a layer of conventional deterrence while keeping a possible conflict below the nuclear threshold.
Outside forces focus on sortie generation, can be held as a strategic reserve, and provide nuclear deterrence. These forces include carrier strike groups (CSGs) to sustain air operations in the Taiwan Strait, amphibious ready groups (ARGs) for possible island defense operations in the Miyako Strait and the Bashi Channel, and to retake Taiwan if its defense falters. Additionally, nuclear-capable strategic bombers and nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) as a backstop to conventional operations.
The revival of the Zumwalt-class comes as China is building more of its Type 055 cruisers – among the largest and most heavily armed surface combatants in East Asia, excluding aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.
While China classifies its Type 055 as a destroyer, the US classifies the type as a cruiser due to its size, armament, and role. Similarly, the Zumwalt class is classified as a destroyer, despite being larger than any US destroyer or cruiser.
In terms of hull numbers, China has eight Type 055 cruisers, versus just three Zumwalt-class destroyers. While both ships are designed to carry hypersonic weapons, China has tested and equipped its Type 055 with the YJ-21 hypersonic missile, with a range of 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers – far less than the 2,776-kilometer range of the US CPS missile, which has yet to enter service.
However, that difference in range could be explained by differences in doctrine – China aims to use the YJ-21 as a “carrier killer” weapon for its SAGs, with longer-range ship-killing capabilities provided by land-based missiles such as the DF-21 and DF-26. In contrast, the CPS is intended for conventional strikes against strategic targets deep in mainland China.
In terms of firepower, the Type 055 cruiser has 112 universal vertical launch system (VLS) cells, compared with the 12-missile capacity of the Zumwalt-class’s Advanced Payload Modules (APMs) designed for the CPS missile, which has yet to enter service.
Although the US Navy still has a large overall VLS numbers advantage over China, China already had 50% of the US VLS capacity in 2024. That gap is rapidly narrowing as China builds more large surface combatants such as the Type 055 cruisers and Type 052D destroyers.
While the Type 055 is designed to be the primary escort ship for China’s CSGs and flagship for its SAGs, the Zumwalt class may be more mission-flexible in the sense that it can operate independently, as part of a SAG, or as part of a CSG.
For the defense of Taiwan, the Zumwalt-class destroyers may add a qualitative layer of conventional deterrence for the US and its allies. Still, they do not substantially negate China’s home-field advantage operating close to home bases and Taiwan, or its quantitative fleet advantage, as China has the largest navy in the world in terms of hull numbers.
While the Zumwalt class may help level the playing field in terms of conventional deterrence by threatening strikes on strategic targets deep in mainland China, it does not, by itself, restore a broad US naval edge against China.
Ultimately, the redesigned Zumwalt-class provides a specific yet powerful conventional deterrent against China in a Taiwan crisis. Still, that niche capability does not overturn China’s larger numerical fleet strength and geographic advantages.