The Navy's Newest Destroyer Is a Drone

When the U.S. Navy christens the first of its newest class of destroyers this month, it will launch the first ship with a brain of its own.

Among the high-tech features included on the USS Zumwalt—cannons that fire rocket-propelled, GPS-guided rounds and stealth design that gives the 610-foot ship the radar signature of a small fishing vessel—there’s also a computer intelligence capable of preparing the ship for battle and engaging enemy targets on its own.

Think of it as a gigantic floating drone: “Most UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] are a few million dollars,” says Wade Knudson, who heads the Zumwalt project for Raytheon, which made most of the ship’s computer systems. “This is a $5 billion UAV.”

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