laststandonzombieisland

The Washington Times reports that the new gee whiz Zumwalt class (still on the drawing board) of 14,000-ton destroyers (the same size as 1912 era Battleships and even uses the same hull-design!) are vulnerable to the PLAN.

“The Navy’s next-generation warship, the 15,000-ton Zumwalt-class destroyer, is no good and can be destroyed by Chinese fishing boats armed with explosives, according to a leading Chinese military commentator, People’s Liberation Army Rear Adm. Zhang Zhaozhong.

Adm. Zhang made the remarks April 30 during a nationwide broadcast of “Defense Review Weekly,” a program on state-run China Central TV. The admiral has been the station’s chief military commentator since 1998.

Zumwalt-class destroyers are one of the Navy’s newest, most-advanced and most-expensive vessels. They have a rich history of budgetary and technological debates.

Ultimately, the destroyers survived several Washington budget cuts. Three of them are under construction at the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine; the lead ship, USS Elmo Zumwalt DDG-1000, named for former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., is scheduled to be completed a year from now.

The new destroyer will play a significant role in what the Navy calls its “mace weapons” that are part of the new American military strategy in the Asia-Pacific, especially China.”

Read the rest here  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/2/inside-china-admiral-says-china-can-destroy-destro/?page=all#pagebreak

The Zumwalts Specs:
General characteristics
Class and type:     Zumwalt
Type:     Multi-mission destroyer, emphasis on land attack
Displacement:     14,564 long tons (14,798 t)[3]
Length:     600 ft (180 m)
Beam:     80.7 ft (24.6 m)
Draft:     27.6 ft (8.4 m)
Propulsion:     2 Rolls-Royce Marine Trent-30 gas turbines and emergency diesel generators, 78 MW (105,000 shp)
Speed:     In excess of 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement:     140
Sensors and
processing systems:     AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR) (X-band, scanned array)[4]
Armament:     • 20 × MK 57 VLS modules, with a total of 80 launch cells[5]
RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), 4 per cell
Tactical Tomahawk, 1 per cell
Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC), 1 per cell
• 2 × 155 mm Advanced Gun System
920 × 155 mm rounds total; 600 in automated store + Auxiliary store room with up to 320 rounds (non-automatic) as of April 2005
70–100 LRLAP rounds planned as of 2005 of total
• 2 × Mk 110 57 mm gun (CIGS)
Aircraft carried:     • One SH-60 LAMPS helicopter or MH-60R helicopter
• Three MQ-8 Fire Scout VT-UAVs[3]
Aviation facilities:     Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters