USS Zumwalt replica spotted: Chinese Navy's new stealth ship revealed
Many indications point to the American ship USS Zumwalt, considered the most advanced and most expensive destroyer ever built, being copied or serving as significant inspiration for a similar Chinese vessel. Photos published on the Chinese platform Sina Weibo show a vessel strikingly similar to the one belonging to the US Navy.
2:54 PM EDT, June 21, 2024
Defence Romania reports that Chinese espionage activities are highly active within the American defense industry. In 2014, Su Bin, a Chinese citizen living in Canada, was accused of industrial espionage. The charges included stealing classified data from Boeing and Lockheed Martin servers, specifically data on C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft and F-35 and F-22 fighters. Su Bin was extradited to the US, and in 2016, he pleaded guilty in a federal court in California.
USS Zumwalt in a Chinese version?
The photo that appeared on Sina Weibo quickly gained attention. Military analyst HI Sutton confirmed its authenticity. It shows a Chinese vessel with a design similar to USS Zumwalt destroyers. However, it is smaller, more comparable to the American unmanned Sea Hunter ships used to track submarines. The inverted bow design aims to increase the ship's draft and speed in both the USS Zumwalt and the Chinese vessel. The slanted surfaces and stealth technology are intended to make it invisible to enemy radar. The use of composite materials also serves this purpose.
The USS Zumwalt, type DDG 1000, represents the latest class of destroyers in the US Navy. One example costs around $3.4-4 billion, which led to the decision to build only three units instead of the initially planned thirty. Two units are already in service: USS Zumwalt and USS Michael Monsoor. The third, USS Lyndon B. Johnson, is still under construction. These ships have a displacement of over 15,432 tons, a length of 600 feet, a width of 81 feet, and a draft of 28 feet. They can reach speeds exceeding 34 mph and accommodate a crew of 148 people.
Initially, the destroyers were armed with the Advanced Gun System (AGS), capable of firing precision-guided rocket-propelled ammunition within 72 miles. However, the Americans decided to retrofit them with hypersonic weapons, specifically the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) system with Common Hypersonic Glide Body warheads. The CPS hypersonic missiles, a naval version of the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, are expected to allow attacks on targets up to 1,678 miles away. The destroyer's equipment includes 80 vertical missile launchers that can target both land and sea objectives.
