The US dispatches Zumwalt destroyers to the western Pacific

The Zumwalt is considered the most modern destroyer in the US Navy. Currently, the warship is on a mission in the western Pacific and could lay the groundwork for deploying hypersonic missiles in the region.

 According to the US Navy, the USS Zumwalt will create new battlefield complexities for potential adversaries. In the Pacific, one of those potential adversaries is clearly Communist China. Carl Shuster, a former US Navy captain and analyst, said, “The presence of a stealth warship will draw a great deal of (Chinese) interest,” especially if Zumwalt is equipped with hypersonic weapons

 Arriving in Japan on Monday, Zumwalt is 185 meters long and displacing 16,000 metric tons. By comparison, the largest destroyer of the People Liberation Army Navy of Communist China, the Type 055, has a displacement of about 12,000 metric tons. But the US Navy has only 3 Zumwalt-class destroyers, and Communist China already has 6 Type 055 destroyers, with more expected in the coming years.

 The US Navy says the Zumwalt has a range of innovations, the most notable of which is its stealthy design. The wave-piercing tumblehome hull design facilitates a wide array of advancements. The composite superstructure significantly reduces radar cross-section and other signatures, making the ship more difficult to detect by enemies at sea.