DDG 1000 moves forward as budget battles fade

Devoid of much fanfare and defying the expectations of critics, production of the Navy’s DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer program is steadily moving forward.

In June, the program weathered a Nunn-McCurdy breach — a budget-control measure triggered by the jump in per-unit cost when the Navy decided in 2008 to “truncate” the class from seven ships to three — and in early July awarded the first contracts to begin fabrication of the third ship.

With work now proceeding on all three ships, program manager Capt. James Syring turned over his duties Aug. 6 after nearly five years at the helm of what is arguably the most complex surface warship ever built.

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