USS Zumwalt's radical long range 'Land Attack Projectile' that can hit cities from 80 miles away scrapped after bosses found rounds will cost $800,000 EACH

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The US Navy’s largest and most advanced destroyer is equipped with two massive guns that can hit targets from 80 miles away – but it can’t afford the ammunition.

At $800,000 or more per round for each gun, the Navy says the cost is just too high, and is now moving to cancel these projectiles, according to a new report from Defense News.

Bosses have admitted the guns will remain silent when the ship enters service - but have pledged to develop alternative projectiles in the future.

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The US Navy’s largest destroyer is equipped with two massive guns that can hit targets from 80 miles away – but, it can’t afford the ammunition. At $800,000 or more per round for each gun, the Navy says the cost is just too high. The USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is pictured

The Long Range Land-Attack Projectile is the only munition designed to be fired from the USS Zumwalt’s Advanced Gun System.

But, as the number of destroyers in this class dropped from the 28 initially planned to just three, subsequent price increases ‘killed the affordable round.’

This comes just weeks after the Navy commissioned the DDG 1000 Zumwalt, which, along with the two other ships in this class, will carry two of the 155mm/62-caliber guns.

These are equipped with an automated magazine and handling system, and use guided precision munitions, the Long Range Land-Attack Projectile.

According to manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the LRLAPs can ‘defeat targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.’

They’re the largest guns to be used on a warship since World War II and are critical to the Zumwalts’ mission as land-attack destroyers.

But, citing excessive costs upwards of $800,000 per round, the Navy made a presentation on Nov 2 to the office of the Secretary of Defense to cancel the LRLAP, Defense News reports.

The decision has yet to be signed off on, but comes as a part of the Pentagon’s annual budget process, the Program Objective Memorandum 2018 effort.

‘We were going to buy thousands of these rounds,’ a Navy official familiar with the program told Defense News.

‘But quantities of ships killed the affordable round.’

Officials say there have been no issues with the performance of the LRLAP and the AGS – price is the major barrier. 

‘There is no blame on any individual,’ the official told Defense News.

'The round was working, the way forward was logical. It’s just that the cost with a three-ship buy became a very high cost.’ 

THE LONG RANGE LAND-ATTACK PROJECTILE

The 155mm Long Range Land-Attack Projectile

The USS Zumwalt's Advanced Gun System was designed to use guided precision munitions, the 155mm Long Range Land-Attack Projectile.

These are estimated to cost at least $800,000 per round for each gun, and can hit a target from 80 miles away.

According to manufacturer Lockheed Martin, they operate with extreme accuracy and can 'defeat targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.'

'It provides long-range off-shore precision fire support to Marine Corps and Army forces engaged in expeditionary assaults or littoral urban operations,' they say. 

Its precision and near vertical angle of fall enables the Warfighter to defeat targets in the 'urban canyons' of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.

The LRLAP is designed to provide high-volume fire support at a rate of 10 rounds per minute through the depth of the magazine. I

Its precision and near vertical angle of fall enables the Warfighter to defeat targets in the 'urban canyons' of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.

The ship was commissioned Oct 15 in Baltimore, Maryland, and faces another 18 months of shipyard work in San Diego to complete installation of the combat system

The DDG 1000 Zumwalt, along with the two other ships in this class, will carry two of the 155mm/62-caliber guns. These are equipped with an automated magazine and handling system, and use guided precision munitions, the Long Range Land-Attack Projectile

The Long Range Land-Attack Projectile is the only munition designed to be fired from the USS Zumwalt’s Advanced Gun System, but as the number of destroyers in this class dropped from the 28 initially planned to just three, subsequent price increases ‘killed the affordable round’

USS ZUMWALT EQUIPPED TO DOMINATE SEAS FOR DECADES

Displacement: 14,564 long tons (14,798 t)

Length: 600 ft (180 m)

Beam: 80.7 ft (24.6 m)

Draft: 27.6 ft (8.4 m)

Propulsion: Two Rolls-Royce Marine Trent-30 gas turbines driving Curtiss-Wright generators and emergency diesel generators, 78 MW (105,000 shp); two propellers driven by electric motors

Speed: Over 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)

Weapons:

20 × MK 57 VLS modules, with a total of 80 launch cells

RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), four per cell

Tactical Tomahawk, one per cell

Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC), one per cell

Two × 155 mm/62 caliber Advanced Gun System

920 × 155 mm rounds total; 600 in automated store with Auxiliary store room with up to 320 rounds (non-automatic) as of April 2005

70–100 LRLAP rounds planned as of 2005 of total

Two × Mk 110 57 mm gun (CIGS)

According to manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the LRLAPs can ‘defeat targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.’ They’re the largest guns to be used on a warship since World War II

And according to the Navy official, the $800,000 price tag may even be the low end on the range of the system's actual cost, though there’s no sense of ‘overcharging or anything.’

It is now thought that there will not be a replacement for the LRLAP by the time the Zumwalt enters operational service.

In 2018, it will undergo a series of combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials (CCSQT) to put its sensors and weapons to the test.

And, there are plans to fire the guns during these trials, as the 2015 budget provided $113 million for 150 rounds and other items, Defense News reports.

The AGS is suited to hold 300 LRAPS, and the Navy will have to make both software and, most likely, sizing adjustments to incorporate a different type of ammunition. 

The ship was commissioned Oct 15 in Baltimore, Maryland, and faces another 18 months of shipyard work in San Diego to complete installation of the combat system. 

While the Navy has not directly commented on the issue, Capt. Thurraya Kent, a spokesperson for the service’s acquisition directorate told Defense News via email: 

‘The Navy continuously monitors the gun and ammunition industry capability and capacities.

‘To address evolving threats and mission requirements, the Navy is evaluating industry projectile solutions (including conventional and hyper-velocity projectiles) that can also meet the DDG 1000 deployment schedule and could potentially be used as an alternative to LRAP for DDG 1000.’  

The ship was commissioned Oct 15 in Baltimore, Maryland, and faces another 18 months of shipyard work in San Diego to complete installation of the combat system. 

While the Navy has not directly commented on the issue, Capt. Thurraya Kent, a spokesperson for the service’s acquisition directorate told Defense News via email: ‘The Navy continuously monitors the gun and ammunition industry capability and capacities.

‘To address evolving threats and mission requirements, the Navy is evaluating industry projectile solutions (including conventional and hyper-velocity projectiles) that can also meet the DDG 1000 deployment schedule and could potentially be used as an alternative to LRAP for DDG 1000.’   

In 2018, it will undergo a series of combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials (CCSQT) to put its sensors and weapons to the test. And, there are plans to fire the guns during these trials, as the 2015 budget provided $113 million for 150 rounds and other items

THE FIRST SHIP TO BE FITTED WITH A RAILGUN? 

A prototype of the BAE railgun could be fitted to future versions of the Zumwalt

Described as 'Star Wars technology' by researchers, the railgun can fire shells at seven times speed of sound, and penetrate concrete 100 miles away.

The weapon was on display to the public for the first time at the Naval Future Force Science and Technology EXPO at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.

Using electromagnetic energy, the gun can fire a shell weighing 10kg at up to 5,400mph over 100 miles – with such force and accuracy it penetrates three concrete walls or six half-inch thick steel plates.

Two prototypes of the weapon have been developed for the US Navy – one by British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and the second by a US firm.

Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, head of US Naval Research, has previously said the futuristic electromagnetic railgun – so called because it fires from two parallel rails – had already undergone extensive testing on land.

It will eventually be mounted on the third Zumwalt class ship. 

Using electromagnetic energy, the gun can fire a shell weighing 10kg at up to 5,400mph over 100 miles – with such force and accuracy it penetrates three concrete walls or six half-inch thick steel plates

The likely candidate for the weapon would be the third planned Zumwalt, Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) currently under construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) with an expected delivery date of 2018.

He said the first two ships – Zumwalt (DDG-1000) and Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) – would be less likely to field the capability initially due to the schedule of testing with the new class.

'It's firing. An electromagnetic railgun is a gun that uses just electricity – no gun powder – and … can shoot a projectile well over 100 miles at Mach 7. Energetic weapons, such as EM railguns, are the future of naval combat.'

Electromagnetic launchers were one of the areas researched by Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defence Initiative, nicknamed 'Star Wars' after the science fiction film franchise.