(See) Zerstörer der Arleigh-Burke-Klasse

[Schneemann]

Nachdem DDG(X) ja auf der Kippe steht und FFG(X) abgeschossen wurde, und da bekanntermaßen bald (vielleicht, eventuell, möglicherweise) ganz faszinierende BBG(X) der Trump-Klasse zur Verfügung stehen, dürften die bewährten Zerstörer der Arleigh-Burke-Klasse uns noch recht lange erhalten bleiben. Grund genug für einen eigenen Strang.

Eine aktuelle Meldung:

U.S. Navy Destroyer Equipped With New Launcher For Unknown Weapons

The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carl M. Levin has received an interesting new addition to its aft upper deck. [...]

A new and not immediately recognizable launcher has emerged on the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carl M. Levin. Last year, launchers for Coyote counter-drone interceptors appeared in the same general location on two other Burkes, the USS Bainbridge and the USS Winston S. Churchill. The Navy is currently known to be exploring several other options for integrating lower-cost anti-drone interceptors on various warships to bolster their defenses against this ever-growing threat. The new launcher could also be for deploying other kinds of munitions, drones, and/or decoys. [...]

The image was taken on March 29 at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The Levin, also known by the hull number DDG-120, is homeported there. A Japanese-language blog called OSINFO was the first to notice the launcher in the image and posted it to social media. [...]

The new launcher is seen installed on the deck at the aft end of the Levin’s superstructure, between the destroyer’s port-side torpedo tubes and its rear Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) array. From what we can see of the launcher itself, it appears to have multiple cells. Whether or not it can rotate or is fixed in place is not perfectly clear, but the latter seems likely, especially given what appears to be a circular mount. [...]

One distinct possibility is that this is a launcher for the White Spike counter-drone interceptor from Zone 5 Technologies. The launcher that Zone 5 has shown so far for White Spike is a four-cell design that is different from the one now installed on the USS Carl M. Levin. [...]

Anduril’s Roadrunner-M counter-drone interceptor has also been under evaluation as part of Counter-NEXT. However, the launchers that Anduril has publicly shown so far for those interceptors do not align with what is seen on the Levin. Furthermore, Roadrunner-M is designed to be launched vertically and recovered in the same way for reuse if it does not actually prosecute a target in the course of a mission, as you can read more about here.

https://www.twz.com/news-features/myster...-destroyer

Schneemann