​​​The Navy now estimates delivery of the DDG-1000, the first of three Zumwalt-class vessels in a $22.4 billion program, by

midyear, according to the Defense Department‘s annual ―Selected Acquisition Report‖ on the program. In 2010, the deliverywas projected for September 2013 and last year for November 2015. With its inverted bow and profile meant to reduce theship‘s cross-section to radar, the DDG-1000 is intended for multiple missions, including land attacks. The vessels, namedafter the late Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, are made by General Dynamics‘ Bath Iron Works. Raytheon Co., based in Waltham,Massachusetts, provides the vessel‘s combat electronics. The cumulative delays ―are due to overall effects of shipyardproduction and test challenges,‖ according to the report sent to Congress last month and obtained by Bloomberg News.Lucy Ryan, a spokeswoman for Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics, said in an email that the company had nocomment on the delays. In addition to the late delivery, the DDG-1000 isn‘t expected to be declared to have an initial combatcapability until December 2019, more than four years later than the Navy projected in 2010 and more than a year later thanestimated last year, based on a comparison of the latest annual Pentagon report with past editions. The Navy is updating itsacquisition benchmarks for the program,including cost and schedule milestones,according to the report.―The DDG-1000will begin acceptance trials later thismonth, and the ship is on track forcommissioning on Oct. 15, 2016,‖ Capt.Thurraya Kent, a Navy spokeswoman,said in an email that didn‘t address thedelays.After the ship is commissioned, itwill transit to San Diego to have itscombat mission systems activated, shesaid.One of the biggest contributors tothe delays is the complexity of activatingthe ship‘s integrated power system, according to the Pentagon report. The ship will use electricity generated by gas turbinesto power all of its systems, including weapons, according to a Navy fact sheet.The vessel is larger than any Navy destroyeror cruiser since the nuclear-powered USS LONG BEACH in 1957, according to the Congressional Research Service.It isalso ―much more‖ stealthy than earlier Navy surface combat ships, CRS analyst Ron O‘Rourke, told Bloomberg.The $22.4billion estimated cost includes development of what originally was intended to be a 10-ship program.The procurement costof the three ships is an estimated $13.2 billion, including $3.8 billion for the DDG-1000, $2.8 billion for the second vesseland $2.4 billion for the third, Kent said. The balance of the $13.2 billion includes one-time expenditures that apply to all threevessels, outfitting and post-delivery costs, she said.The program‘s procurement cost increased by about $450 million lastyear due to the ―effect of shipyard production and test challenges,‖ the report said.The new destroyer‘s Advanced GunSystem from London-based BAE Systems has two 155mm guns capable of firing precision projectiles 63 nautical miles (73miles) inland. The vessel will carry a crew of 142, down from about 300 on the Navy‘s Aegis destroyers and cruisers,producing savings in personnel costs. ―Skilled labor shortages at Bath Iron Works contributed to the cost increases, but they were only one factor among several resulting in the rise‖ for ―the most advanced warship ever built,‖ said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. Thompson follows the Zumwalt class for his consulting client General Dynamics, which also contributes to the Arlington, Virginia-based institute, he said in an email.Source; the Portland Press Herald​