A long-troubled secrecy destroyer turned into tomorrow’s fastest marine strike platform with a big shot in the race for sea-based fast dominance.
The US Navy took a crucial step in its first sea-based fast capability this month by properly conducting an end-to-end trip test of a typical hypersonic missile.
The US Navy’s cold-gas start method, which was designed to safely detach weapons, was validated during the exam at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Station.
It advances the Rapid Capabilities Office of the US Army’s Conventional Prompt Strike ( CPS), which was founded in partnership with the US Army after two previous flight tests were completed in 2024.
The US Navy is now deploying CPS aboard the USS Zumwalt, according to Vice Admiral Johnny R. Wolfe Jr., the mind of Strategic Systems Programs.
In the face of intensifying strategic competition, the fast system’s high speed, variety, and survivability increase US deterrence and strike capabilities. The common All Up Round ( AUR) missile will be refined as a result of the test, strengthening its ability to withstand sophisticated adversary threats.
The Zumwalt-class can carry up to 12 missiles triple-packed into Advanced Payload Module ( APM) canisters, according to a report from The War Zone ( TWZ ) in January 2025.
According to TWZ, the ships ‘ Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike ( IRCPS) missiles will have an unpowered boost-glide vehicle payload that can maneuver unpredictably toward their targets.
In a January 2025 post for Real Clear Defense, Francis Mahon and Punch Moulton discuss the military benefits of sea-based fast weapons, which are frequently brief, high-value, and high-payoff.
Mahon and Punch note that fast weapons can alter that because they are frequently beyond the range or ability of their recent strike strikes.
The Atlantic Council mentions in a March 2025 statement that traditional hypersonic cruise missiles, like the Tomahawk or Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile ( JASSM), would take an hour to reach a specific 800 meters away, while a supersonic cruise missile could hit the mark in less than ten days, to give an illustration of this potential gap.
A hypersonic glide vehicle ( HGV ) can travel the Taiwan Strait to Guam in less than 30 minutes, according to the report.
In a January 2025 article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Strategic Studies, Thomas MacDonald mentions that the operators of ground-based mobile missiles could deploy multiple transporter-erector-launchers ( TEL ) across different locations simultaneously, ensuring a survivable capability, to underscore the scale of hitting time-sensitive targets.
According to MacDonald, TEL operators can choose to shift their missiles if there are gaps in an opponent’s remote sensing coverage. He points out that TEL providers may keep their missiles hidden if an attack loses control of their projectiles, making it impossible for them to do so consistently, breaking the promise of detector technologies that rely on secrecy or have limited stamina.
Additionally, MacDonald asserts that TEL providers would probably use measures against an enemy’s monitoring capabilities, which range from satellite-blind lasers to decoys.
The US Department of Defense’s ( DOD ) 2024 China Military Power Report ( CMPR ) mentions that China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force ( PLRF ) has about 1,500 TEL units, which presents a formidable challenge for targeting. According to the report, China’s counter-intervention approach against Taiwan and its strategic nuclear deterrence are crucially influenced by the PLARF.
Former US Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday mentions in an April 2021 USNI News content that for deployment may help multi-vector problems when he discusses the benefits of deploying fast weapons at water.
Additionally, Gilday points out that using hypersonic weapons at sea can significantly improve survival because adversaries may have access to a range of satellite images of the Pacific.
Such ships may play a crucial role as part of a two-level force described by Thomas Mahnken in a February 2022 Proceedings article by contextualizing the potential deployment of hypersonic-armed Zumwalt-class destroyers at the operational level.
Mahnken mentions that an “inside force” made up of mobile, dispersed ground forces and expeditionary forces would transform Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines into defensive bastions armed with missiles, sensors, and electronic warfare systems to stop China from advancing its influence beyond that region.
According to Mahnken, an “outside force” would be present, primarily made up of air and naval forces with standoff or penetration capabilities that could exploit gaps in China’s anti-access/area-denial ( A2/AD ) systems to carry out offensive operations, including strikes on the Chinese mainland, while supporting that force.
The Zumwalt class could make a significant contribution to an envisioned outside force as a hypersonic weapon launcher. However, rising costs and delays could once more undermine the platform’s relevance, a trend that was echoed by the company’s earlier-equipped Advanced Gun System ( AGS), which was originally designed to support naval gunfire ( NGFS).
According to a US Congressional Research Service ( CRS ) report from April 2025, the US may only have a small number of hypersonic weapons due to high costs. Additionally, it mentions that the US may require a large number of these weapons to defeat expensive targets.
These likely prohibitive costs are outlined in a US Congressional Budget Office ( CBO ) report from January 2023, which mentions that installation of intermediate-range, high-range, boost-glide missiles of the kind used in the Zumwalt class could cost up to US$ 41 million per unit.
The Zumwalt class’s effectiveness is also in question. Insufficient data is provided in a US CRS report from December 2024 to assess the class’s suitability for anti-air warfare ( AWW), torpedo defense, and undersea warfare.
According to the report, the Zumwalt-class’s surface strike capabilities have not yet been evaluated following the completion of live missile events in 2027. Additionally, it asserts that the available data are insufficient to assess the type’s ability to survive threat weapons.
China may already have the upper hand when it comes to ship-based hypersonic firepower as the US continues to upgrade a previously sidelined destroyer platform to accommodate hypersonic weapons.
Naval News reported that China fired the YJ-21 hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile ( ASBM ) from one of its Type 055 cruisers in April 2022.
Launch footage, in the view of Naval News, may suggest that the YJ-21 might be a two-stage, cold-launched missile equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle ( HGV ), similar to what the US intends to install on its Zumwalt-class destroyers.
In contrast to the three-ship Zumwalt-class, which is still in development, China also has eight Type 055 cruisers in service and additional units planned, according to the report.
The hypersonic race at sea is growing faster than the US can afford complacency, regardless of whether the rearmed Zumwalt class signals the beginning of a new strike era or represents a last-ditch revival of the platform.