The Navy’s next-gen destroyer concept involves powerful lasers
It's called the DDG(X), and it could be a successor to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers of today.
By Kelsey D. Atherton | Published Jan 14, 2022 10:12 AM
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Michael Murphy on Jan. 9, 2022. US Navy photo / Elisha Smith
SHARE
The US Navy wants its next destroyer to be festooned with lasers.
Destroyers as a category of ship exist for two distinct yet related missions. From the category’s conception in the late 19th century to the present, they’ve been built to escort bigger, more powerful or vulnerable ships, and use their weapons to deter or destroy smaller threats. (The name itself is a shortened form of “torpedo boat destroyer.”) The other mission of destroyers is as a platform for offensive weapons, primarily guided missiles, which can be launched at ships, buildings, or vehicles at great range.
A next-generation concept, unveiled January 12, showcases the present and near-future technologies that the Navy sees as essential to combat operations in oceans over the coming century. The concept, announced at the Surface Navy Association symposium, was accompanied by a list of all the ways in which this new destroyer, for now designated as DDG(X), would surpass the capabilities of the already existing and reliable Arleigh Burke class.
The Arleigh Burke class, which entered service in 1991, is expected to serve into the 2060s.
https://www.popsci.com/technology/navy-unveils-ddgx-destroyer-concept/
