The US Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer has completed a near three-year refit to accommodate hypersonic weapons and has sailed for its first post-upgrade trial, marking the first time an American surface combatant will host hypersonic missiles. The low-signature, electric‑power‑heavy Zumwalt design, long plagued by cost and role debates, has thus been repurposed to carry a new class of long‑range, high‑speed strike systems that the Navy believes will expand its ability to contest distant targets.
The upgrade is presented as a step toward giving the surface fleet a prompt, hard‑to‑intercept strike option; the Navy and broader defence community have repeatedly described long‑range hypersonic weapons as a game changer because of their speed, maneuverability, and ability to squeeze current missile‑defence architectures. Still, the service acknowledges it does not yet possess a full, deployable long‑range hypersonic strike capability—this sortie represents an important developmental milestone rather than the declaration of an operational force.
Alongside the Zumwalt modification, US planners envision a submarine dimension to hypersonic deployment: the next‑generation Virginia-class Block V attack submarines are slated to carry a submarine‑launched variant of the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic weapon. Submerged launch from hard‑to‑detect platforms would complicate adversaries’ targeting calculus and extend the geographic reach and survivability of US hypersonic options, but will require new integration of launch mechanisms, fire‑control systems, and logistics.
The operationalisation of maritime hypersonics has wider strategic reverberations. For East Asia and the Indo‑Pacific, where anti‑access/area denial networks and layered air defences are emphasised, sea‑based hypersonics could alter calculations about strike depth, escalation, and forward basing. At the same time, adversaries will accelerate countermeasures—improved sensors, layered interceptors, and doctrine changes—heightening technological competition and complicating crisis stability.
Practical challenges temper the headline. Fielding hypersonics at scale entails production ramps, stockpile management, maintenance of complex thermal and guidance systems, and a datalinked targeting infrastructure able to provide timely, survivable targeting data. The Zumwalt sortie shows momentum, but turning that momentum into reliable, persistent capability will take further tests, doctrine updates, and significant investment amid competing defence priorities.