The US Navy inaugurated the 28th edition of Rim of the Pacific ( RIMPAC ) at the end of last June. The world’s largest maritime exercise will feature 26 countries, 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national armies, and more than 30 unmanned systems.
Tuesday, July 5, 2022, there are approximately 170 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel who will train and operate around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California from June 29 to August 4, 2022.
Following RIMPAC’s theme of Capable Adaptive Partners, RIMPAC forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities, projecting the inherent flexibility of maritime forces and helping to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“By coming together as Capable, Adaptive Partners, and in the scale that we are, we are making a statement about our commitment to work together, to foster and sustain those relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of the sea lanes and the security of the world’s interconnected oceans. This is also how we find the areas where our national objectives overlap, where we can practice the procedures that will help to enable our interchangeability –the nexus of national will and interoperability.” Vice Admiral Michael Boyle, RIMPAC 2022 Commander
“It’s also about how we find areas where our national goals overlap, so that we can put into practice procedures that will facilitate exchanges in national relations and interoperability,” he added.
All things related to maritime exercises such as RIMPAC are always closely related to the number and types of ships that will be present there.
One of those present was the US Navy’s largest destroyer, the Zumwalt class USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001). The ship is the most expensive destroyer in the world.
In addition, the US Navy destroyer USS Michael Monsoor is billed as the largest and most advanced surface combat battleship in the world.
The Zumwalt is the flagship of the next-generation class of multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power. While USS Michael Monsoor is the second ship of this class.
The ship features a state-of-the-art electric propulsion system, wave-piercing tumblehome hull, stealth design, and the latest in warfare technology and weaponry. The Zumwalt -class destroyer is capable of carrying out various missions of prevention, force projection, sea control, and command control.
USS Michael Monsoor is able to do all that while remaining in stealth mode, making it very difficult for the opposing side to find him. The state-of-the-art technology on board allows for continuous operations on the coast as well as on land attack.
Its multi-mission design and littoral capabilities make it a globally deployable asset for any fleet and combat command.
Sensors, command and control, sophisticated assault weapons, and ship self-defense weaponry were all made possible by Raytheon technology.
The Zumwalt is the flagship of the next-generation class of multi-mission destroyers designed to amplify naval power from the sea. These ships will feature state-of-the-art electric propulsion systems, wave-penetrating tumblehome hulls, stealth designs , and the latest available warfare technology and weaponry.
The Zumwalt -class destroyers will be capable of performing a variety of deterrence, force projection, sea control and command control missions.
These warships have the stealth , size, power, system survivability, and computing capacity that give the Navy the ability to fulfill maritime missions at sea today, as well as incorporate new technologies to meet the emerging security environment.
The ship is driven by a Main Turbine Generator (MTG); (2) Auxiliary Turbine Generator (ATG); (2) Advanced Induction Motor (AIM) 34.6 MW.
It is 610 ft long and 80.7 ft wide. The ship has a displacement of 15,656 L tons at a speed of 30 knots. His presence at RIMPAC 2022 will certainly make him the center of attention. Moreover, the Zumwalt class destroyer is claimed to be a fairly large destroyer in the current era
Despite being 40% larger than an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the radar cross-section (RCS) is more akin to that of a fishing boat, according to a spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command. The tumblehome hull and composite deckhouse reduce radar return. Overall, the destroyer’s angular build makes it “50 times harder to spot on radar than an ordinary destroyer.
The destroyer consists of an advanced 155 mm gun and its Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP). This projectile is a rocket with a warhead fired from the AGS gun; the warhead has an 11 kg / 24 lb bursting charge and has a circular error probable of 50 meters. This weapon system has a range of 83 nautical miles (154 km). The fully automated storage system has room for up to 750 rounds.
The ship is equipped with 20 × MK 57 VLS modules, 4 cells per module, 80 launch cells total
each cell can contain:
4 × RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM),
1 × Tomahawk, or
1 × Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Missile (ASROC)
2 × 155 mm (6 in)/62 caliber Advanced Gun System (functionally inoperable; only a nominal ammunition supply exists)
2 × 30 mm (1.2 in) Mk 46 Mod 2 Gun Weapon System
The Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure (TSCEI) is based on General Electric Fanuc Embedded Systems’ PPC7A and PPC7D single-board computers running LynuxWorks‘ LynxOS RTOS. These are contained in 16 shock, vibration, and electromagnetic protected Electronic Modular Enclosures. Also it carry one helicopter or 3 UAVs.
The ship is equipped with AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar (MFR). For underwater a dual-band sonar controlled by a highly automated computer system used to detect mines and submarines. It is claimed that it is superior to the Arleigh Burke class‘s sonar in littoral ASW, but less effective in blue water/deep sea areas.