US Navy USS Zumwalt DDG 1000 completes firing test of Mark 46 MOD 2 Gun Weapon System.

According to news published on the United States Department of Defense (DoD) official web site, the U.S. Navy USS Zumwalt DDG 1000 guided missile destroyer completes firing test of onboard Mark 46 MOD 2 Gun Weapon System.
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The guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt DDG 1000 arrives at its new homeport in San Diego. (Picture source U.S DoD)

The Mark 46 GWS is a remotely operated naval gun system that uses 30 mm high velocity cannon, a forward looking infrared sensor, a low light television camera, and a laser rangefinder for shipboard self-defense against small, high speed surface targets. It is a program of record already successfully installed and operated on LPD-17 and LCS class ships. The test firing on board Zumwalt was the first large caliber weapons firing event for the Zumwalt Class Destroyer Program and occurred only three weeks after the Navy officially accepted delivery of the Combat System.

Structural test fires assess structural and electrical components of the ship against shock and vibration of the weapon firing, as well as measuring any potential hazards to personnel or degradations to adjacent equipment as a result of firing live ordnance. The tests are a coordinated effort between the Zumwalt Class Destroyer Program Office, the U.S. 3rd Fleet, Commander, Naval Surface Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Surface Warfare Centers located in Dahlgren, Virginia, Port Hueneme, California, and Indian Head, Maryland.

The USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy designed and manufactured jointly by American companies Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Ingalls, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems Land and Armaments (formerly United Defense) and Boeing. She is the lead ship of the Zumwalt class and the first ship to be named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt.

The Zumwalt-class destroyer is designed and built to execute multiple maritime missions including deterrence and power projection. The ships’ stealth and ability to operate in both the open ocean and near-shore environments creates a new level of battlespace complexity for potential adversaries.

The main armament of DDG-1000 includes eighty Advanced Vertical Launch (AVLS) cells for Tomahawk, Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), Standard Missiles, and Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rockets (ASROC) (VLA). It also has two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) 155mm guns and two 30mm close in Gun Systems (CIGS).

The Zumwalt-class destroyer has the capacity to carry two MH-60Rs or Three Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems (VTUAV).

Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) conducts a live-fire of the Mark 46 MOD 2 Gun Weapon System during a combat systems testing trial at sea May 16., 2020. (Picture source U.S. Navy)