This new US Navy destroyer could carry a railgun

Resembling something that would be more at home in a James Bond movie, The USS Zumwalt is the latest–and largest–destroyer to be inducted into the US Navy.

Futuristic presence aside, the standout feature of this behemoth is its power plant–one that is massive enough to serve the entire ship, as well as a small city simultaneously. Totalling 78 Megawatts of power–almost as much as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier–at the heart of this vessel sits two 45.4 MW Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines driving Curtiss-Wright electric generators, along with two 3.8-MW Rolls-Royce RR4500 turbine generators.

The question therefore becomes: why is such an apparently gratuitous amount of energy required for a single ship? The answer: new-generation weapon systems. Specifically, a rail gun. For those not in the know, a rail gun is a term given to a mythical weapon that is supposed to be capable of firing projectiles at or near the speed of light. It's an obviously fascinating concept that science fiction has had a field day with, from movies like the 1996 Schwarzenegger action classic Eraser, to the weapon that would wreak havoc in the legendary first person shooter Quake.

But no more is this merely a figment of fertile imagination–this new destroyer might actually carry a railgun when eventually deployed. Given that the operating principle behind a rail gun involves feeding massive amounts of current into the electromagnet that comprises the heart of this weapon's firing system, it is clear where all that additional electric energy is going to be utilised.

A ship-borne railgun could revolutionise warfare with its ability to fire projectiles at targets over 200 Km away (over the horizon) at velocities approaching six times the speed of sound. It is difficult to fathom the intensity of the destructive force such a weapon could dish out, given its projectile's massive momentum. Also the operational costs of such a system would be far lower than comparable current-day defense systems like missiles, which are both slower and far more expensive to maintain.

The large size of this destroyer also makes it capable of carrying conventional missile launchers and Joint Strike Fighter aircraft like MV-22 Ospreys and unmanned drones. The battleship's unconventional shape comes from its 'tumblehome' design, where the ship's hill is designed to be widest at water level, then narrows down the higher its structure rises, a feature that also lends to its stealth capabilities that can cloak it from detection.