The USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), the lead ship in a class of US Navy guided missile destroyers that will be armed with game-changing electromagnetic "railguns," was christened at the Bath Iron Works in Maine, USA last April 12.

The Zumwalt-class is a multi-role destroyer packed with advanced technologies and designed for surface warfare, anti-aircraft warfare and naval fire support against land targets. The 15,000-ton Zumwalt and the two other ships in her class are basically floating computer systems protected by advanced stealth technology and armed with futuristic weapons.

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China has nothing comparable to the Zumwalt-class, either afloat or building. The four active destroyers of the Lanzhou-class (also identified as the Type 052C) are considered the most modern destroyers in the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The first of these warships, however, entered service in 2005, making their technologies dated in comparison to the Zumwalt.

The Zumwalt's "brain" is called the "Total Ship Computing Environment" (TSCE), a single, encrypted network that controls all shipboard computing applications. This network is so "self-aware" it can prepare the ship for battle and engage targets on its own.

TSCE integrates all warfighting operations into a single, common computing environment that includes combat systems and C4ISR or Command, Control, Communications and Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

The USS Zumwalt is armed with 20 MK 57 Peripheral Vertical Launch System modules that have a rapid-fire missile launch capability against sea, air and land targets. It also carries a 155 mm Advanced Gun System in two stealth turrets that fully enclose the gun barrels when these are not in action.

A more dangerous weapon, however, will be the electromagnetic railgun that uses a powerful blast of electromagnetic energy to hurl a streamlined discarding sabot round at speeds as high as Mach 7 or 2,380 meters per second. This kinetic energy is far greater than the energy yield of an explosive shell of greater mass.

The railgun will have a range of over 160 kilometers and will be capable of firing multiple projectiles per minute. Each hyper-velocity round weighs some 10 kilograms and could cost about US$25,000 compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single high-explosive missile.

The Zumwalts are the only warships in the world that can produce the tremendous electrical power needed to fire a railgun. Each Zumwalt can generate 78 megawatts of power from its integrated power system, far more than is necessary to fire this electrically driven weapon. Reports said the US Navy plans to arm a Zumwalt destroyer with the world's first operational railgun by 2016.