Why does the United States attach so much importance to the development and construction of destroyers?, Consecutive enlistment of Ali Burke | Destroyer | United States

News about the entry of a new type of destroyer into service by the US Navy has been frequently reported recently. Three days after the Arleigh Burke 2A destroyer Carl Levin officially joined the US Navy's combat sequence, the first ship of the Arleigh Burke 3, Jack Lucas, was also recently delivered to the US Navy. In addition, the United States has stated that it is accelerating the development of the next generation of DDG destroyers.

So, what position does the "Ali Burke" class missile destroyer occupy in the US Navy's equipment system? Why does the United States attach so much importance to the development and construction of destroyers? Military observer Cao Weidong brought his interpretation.

The "Ali Burke" class entered service consecutively

According to data, the "Ali Burke" class missile destroyer is a large destroyer developed by the United States in the 1980s. Since the first ship was delivered to the US Navy in 1991, the "Ali Burke" class destroyer has been continuously improved, giving rise to multiple models such as the "Ali Burke" class 1, 2, and 3, with continuously improving performance. What are the performance advantages of the Ali Burke class destroyer reflected in?

Cao Weidong:

The biggest highlight of the Ali Burke class missile destroyer is its vertical launch system and Aegis system, which have strong air defense and anti missile capabilities.

The Aegis system is not just a defense system, it can detect distant targets through phased array radar and quickly identify enemies and friends. Over time, many countries have also begun to develop their destroyers in this direction.

What are the advantages of vertical launch systems? Before the launch of the Ali Burke class missile destroyers, many countries had destroyers launch missiles from the deck through missile launchers, which caused two problems: one was the relatively small number of missiles carried, and the other was the limitation of the ship's navigation direction, which prevented it from launching missiles 360 degrees. The vertical launch system can solve these two problems.

What is the difference in combat performance between the Levin and Lucas?

Cao Weidong:

The Lucas was the first ship of the Ali Burke 3 class, while the Levin belonged to the Ali Burke 2 or 2A class, and their overall changes were not significant. They do not adopt stealth design, with displacement of around 10000 tons and power systems using LM2500 gas turbines. The only change to the Aegis system is some baseline upgrades. The main difference lies in the fact that the Lucas is equipped with a new SPY-6 radar, which can detect farther distances than the Levin and can also capture some stealth targets. In addition, the level of informatization will be higher.

Two different models of Ali Burke class missile destroyers have joined the US Navy in succession, indicating a high demand for destroyers with air defense and anti missile capabilities as well as long-range combat capabilities.

The US Navy plans to build 22 Arleigh Burke 3 destroyers, and the first one has been delivered. When do you think the Arleigh Burke 3 destroyer will truly become combat capable?

Cao Weidong:

If the US Navy had already conducted operational training on simulators during the development of the Ali Burke 3 destroyer, once this ship was handed over to the US Navy, the time to form combat effectiveness would be very short. But if the equipment is not up to standard and constantly malfunctions, the time to form combat effectiveness will be delayed. For example, the electromagnetic catapults of the Ford class aircraft carrier in the United States often malfunctioned during actual testing, leading former US President Trump to even consider switching back to steam catapults. The Arleigh Burke 3 destroyer has just been delivered to the United States Navy, and a conclusion on when it will develop combat effectiveness must be drawn after actual testing.

Data image: American Jumwalt class destroyer

Expensive "Jumwalt" level

The Jumwalt class DDG-1000 destroyer from the United States was once highly anticipated due to its avant-garde design concept and advanced technical performance. However, according to reports from American media, the Jumwalt class destroyer has become a very expensive experimental vessel, with only three ordered due to high costs. What do you think are the future development prospects of the Jumwalt class destroyer?

Cao Weidong:

The United States only built three DDG-1000 Jumwalt class missile destroyers before stopping. There are two reasons for this: firstly, the cost is very expensive, and the United States is unable to produce a large number of Jumwalt class missile destroyers in the short term. Secondly, the ship placed too much emphasis on stealth. Originally planned to be equipped with laser weapons or electromagnetic railguns, but the size of the laser weapons was very large and not suitable for installation on missile destroyers. The electromagnetic railguns were also not very successful, so they were eventually replaced by large-diameter naval guns, and their combat performance was not as good as the Ali Burke class missile destroyers.

Nowadays, the Arleigh Burke Type 1 destroyer is relatively old, and the US Navy no longer builds it. The Ticonderoga class missile cruiser is the command ship of the US aircraft carrier fleet, but due to its outdated performance and declining operational indicators, the United States is no longer preparing to build cruisers. Therefore, it plans to replace the Ticonderoga class missile cruiser with the Ali Burke 2 destroyer. However, many of the Ali Burke 2 destroyers cannot meet the needs of the US aircraft carrier fleet command ship. So the US Navy plans to develop the next generation of DDG destroyers, and plans to replace the aging Ticonderoga class cruisers and the already developed Ali Burke class destroyers with DDG.

Next generation destroyer DDG

The Congressional Research Service released a report in March this year outlining the challenges faced by the DDG project. According to the concept of distributed maritime operations in the United States Navy, the future fleet will be a hybrid force consisting of a few large warships and a majority of small warships. However, DDG went the other way and turned itself into a large and highly vulnerable combat platform. What do you think about this?

Cao Weidong:

The distributed combat concept of the US Navy mainly refers to the dispersed combat platforms but concentrated firepower. If DDG is a combination of DDG-1000 and Ali Burke 3 destroyers, it can fully achieve distributed lethality. Its volume may be similar to DDG-1000, with a displacement of approximately 15000 tons. If it were to adopt the exterior design of DDG-1000, it would only be equivalent to a small fishing boat on radar reflection waves, and could achieve stealth without forming a so-called "big target". The key issue is that the US military wants both to widen the performance gap of the DDG-X with its opponent's equipment and to have sufficient quantities, which is difficult.