A Look At Why The U.S. Navy's New Expensive Warships Are Breaking Down At Sea

JOEL PAGE / REUTERS

David Axe, Daily Beast: The U.S. Navy’s Expensive New Warships Are Breaking Down at Sea

The U.S. Navy is set to roll out a new, sleek, fast high-tech destroyer—but the ship keeps suffering from engineering glitches.

September was supposed to be a triumphant month for Zumwalt, the U.S. Navy’s high-tech new destroyer. The 600-foot-long, missile-armed stealth warship—its hull and superstructure sharply sloped to help it avoid radar-detection—was in Norfolk, Virginia, undergoing last-minute tests before her planned official commissioning on Oct. 15.

Once in service, Zumwalt will be the Navy’s most sophisticated destroyer. But only if she actually works.

On Sept. 19, Zumwalt suffered what the Navy calls an “engineering casualty.” In plain language, that means the $4 billion ship broke down. And she wasn’t alone. Across the world’s leading navy, new warships are breaking down at alarming rates.

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