Content Manager posted on December 20, 2011 11:34
Bath Iron Works reached a major milestone in the process of building a next-generation warship when it celebrated the keel-laying for the first Zumwalt-class destroyer. The first Zumwalt ship, known during construction as DDG 1000, has been under construction at BIW for more than two years. The Zumwalt class, which incorporates several new technologies from weapons systems to propulsion to stealth capabilities, originally was planned by the Pentagon to replace the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that have been under construction at Bath Iron Works since the late 1990s. Earlier this year, the Pentagon scuttled that plan because of concerns about the cost, but proceeded with the construction of three Zumwalts, all of which are being built in Bath.