U.S. Navy Thinks New Stealth Destroyer Will Put a Damper on China's Rise

A stealthy warship that could reinforce the U.S. Navy's China strategy will be able to creep up on coastlines virtually undetected and strike targets with electromagnetic railguns. It has the ability to carry out missions both on the high seas and in shallow waters closer to shore; this is especially important in Asia because of the region's many island nations and China's long Pacific coast.

However, at more than $3 billion, skeptics say the new DDG-1000 destroyer takes away from funds that could be better used to strengthen a thinly stretched conventional fleet, says CBS News. One Chinese admiral has ridiculed that all it would take to sink the high-tech ship is an armada of explosive-laden fishing boats.

The first of the new ships are set to be delivered in 2014. The Pentagon calls them a perfect fit for what Washington now considers the most strategically important region in the world — Asia and the Pacific. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Navy will be deploying 60 percent of its fleet worldwide to the Pacific by 2020.

The DDG-1000 and other stealth destroyers of the Zumwalt class feature a wave-piercing hull that leaves almost no wake, electric drive propulsion and advanced sonar and missiles. They are longer and heavier than existing destroyers, but will have half the crew because of automated systems. They also look like a small fishing boat on enemy radar. Eventually, the ship is to be equipped with an electromagnetic railgun, which uses a magnetic field and electric current to fire a projectile at several times the speed of sound, according to a Fox News report.

Unfortunately, cost overruns and technical delays have left many defense experts wondering if the project was too focused on futuristic technologies. The Navy maintains that the cost of the newbuilds is money well spent. The rise of China has been the biggest reason for keeping the innovative ship afloat, although the specifics of where it will be deployed have yet to be announced. Navy officials also say the technologies developed for the ship will be used in other vessels in the decades ahead.

The destroyers' $3.1 billion price tag, which is about twice the cost of the current destroyers and inflates to $7 billion each when research and development is added in, nearly ruined it in Congress. The Navy originally wanted 32 of them, then that was cut to 24, then seven. Now, just three are being built.

The U.S. Defense Department is concerned that China is improving its navy with the goal of stopping U.S. intervention in ongoing conflicts over disputed territory in the South China Sea. China is now allegedly working on developing missiles and submarines that could deny American ships access to crucial sea lanes. The U.S. has a big advantage on the high seas, but improvements in China's navy could make it harder for U.S. ships to fight in shallower waters. The stealth destroyers are designed to do both. In the meantime, the Navy will begin deploying smaller Littoral Combat Ships to Singapore later this year.

Officially, China has been quiet on the possible addition of the destroyers to Asian waters.