Technically, the pricey new ship in the U.S. Navy’s fleet as of 2014 is a destroyer named DDG-1000. It comes equipped with electromagnetic “railguns,” a “wave-piercing” hull that doesn’t leave a wake, and “advanced sonar and missiles.”
But before you get too excited, the DDG-1000 program might get terminated before too long for two reasons.
The first is that like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the DDG-1000 is threatening to set records with cost overruns. According to Fox News, at $3.1 billion per ship a DDG-1000 costs about twice as much as current destroyers. (The total price tag hits $7 billion each “when research and development is added in…”)
The second is perhaps even more problematic. Chinese Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong issued a warning about the alleged capabilities of the ‘super-stealth’ DDG-1000. All he would need to overcome the ship’s technological advantages would be to swarm the vessel with several fishing boats laden with explosives. If one gets through – on a suicide mission, of course – it could literally blow up US taxpayers’ investment.
Nice things cost money, and even the best technology can be laid to waste by comparatively low-tech responses. Still, public and private watch dog groups need to keep an eye on how the DDG-1000 develops. We can’t afford not to.
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