Fully unloaded: US Navy’s pricey stealth ship ammo too expensive to fire

Modern warfare is not cheap. But even among the priciest and most cutting-edge battle machines, the USS Zumwalt is in a class of its own. The warship is the most expensive destroyer in the history of the navy, costing about US$4.4 billion.

Along with the hefty price tag comes a marvel of nautical engineering. During its October commissioning ceremony in Baltimore, Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the United States Pacific Command, described the Zumwalt as the warship Batman would own.

But even a billionaire playboy like Bruce Wayne would struggle to finance the ship’s guns, reported to fire ammunition costing US$800,000 a round.

The ship is 186 metres long but has the radar signature of a fishing vessel a twelfth of its size, thanks to a unique angular hull that obscures its guns, radar systems and sensors from detection. It treads quietly through the water. “The composite superstructure significantly reduces cross section and acoustic output making the ship harder to detect by enemies at sea,” according to the navy’s description.

“As long as our president and you the American people have an insatiable appetite for security ... I have an insatiable appetite for the stuff to underwrite that security,” Admiral Harris said.

Zumwalt-class ships were also meant to carry advanced, high energy weapons. Specifically, the USS Zumwalt was designed to bear two guns that fired Long Range Land Attack Projectiles, or LRLAP. The advanced gun system was built to rapidly and precisely strike targets more than 110km away, as a cost-effective alternative to cruise missiles.