The future Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) successfully completed acceptance trials Feb. 1, in which its BIW crew demonstrated the ship’s systems to evaluators with the U.S. Navy.
USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) is the second ship of the Zumwalt class of guided missile destroyers. The Zumwalts were designed as multi-mission surface combatants tailored for advanced land attack and littoral dominance with a mission of providing credible, independent forward presence and deterrence and operating as integral parts of naval, joint or combined maritime forces. Their main guns are a pair of Advanced Gun Systems (AGS). Because the AGS is unusable, they cannot provide naval gunfire support and their mission is now surface warfare. Michael Monsoor is the second Zumwalt-class destroyer. The ship is 600 feet (180 m) in length, with a beam of 80.7 feet (24.6 m) and displacing approximately 15,000 tons. Michael Monsoor will have a crew size of 148 officers and sailors; she can make speed in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).
Michael Monsoor is named after Master-at-Arms Second Class Michael A. Monsoor (1981–2006), a United States Navy SEAL killed during the Iraq War and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
The Zumwalt-class destroyer is a class of United States Navy guided missile destroyers designed as multi-mission stealth ships with a focus on land attack. Although the class is multi-role and was designed for secondary roles of surface warfare and anti-aircraft warfare, it was designed primarily for naval gunfire support. The class was intended to take the place of battleships in meeting a congressional mandate for naval fire support.[11] The ship is designed around its two Advanced Gun Systems, their turrets and magazines, and unique Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) ammunition.[9] LRLAP procurement was cancelled, rendering the guns unusable. The Navy is re-purposing the ships for surface warfare. The class emerged from the DD-21 program as “DD(X)”.
The vessels’ distinctive appearance results from the design requirement for a low radar cross-section. It has a wave-piercing tumblehome hull form whose sides slope inward above the waterline, which dramatically reduces the radar cross-section (RCS) by returning much less energy than a conventional flare hull form. The appearance has been compared to that of the historic USS Monitor ironclad warship.
The class has an integrated power system that can send electricity to the electric drive motors or weapons, the Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure (TSCEI), automated fire-fighting systems, and automated piping rupture isolation. The class is designed to require a smaller crew and be less expensive to operate than comparable warships.
