US Navy's USS Zumwalt

US Navy’s USS Zumwalt, the largest ever ‘stealth‘ destroyer, heads out at sea for the first time.

Launched from Bath Iron Works in Maine on Monday morning, the 600-foot-long destroyer USS Zumwalt, weighs 15,000 tons, has taken four years to build at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion.

Images credit US Navy

US Navy's USS Zumwalt

Captain James Kirk (not the fictional Star Trek captain), said:
“We are absolutely fired up to see Zumwalt get underway. For the crew and all those involved in designing, building, and readying this fantastic ship, this is a huge milestone.”

The Zumwalt-class destroyers are a class of United States Navy guided missile destroyers designed as multi-mission stealth ships with a focus on land attack. The class emerged from the previous DD-21 vessel program. The program was previously known as the “DD(X)”. The class is multi-role and designed for surface warfare, anti-aircraft warfare, and naval gunfire support. They take the place of battleships in filling the former congressional mandate for naval fire support, though the requirement was reduced to allow them to fill this role. The vessels’ appearance has been compared to that of the historic ironclad warship.

via foxtrotalpha

source wikipedia