Zumwalt teamwork

TO THE NAVY AND INDUSTRY for putting the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer program on track. This massively complex warship program has defied the critics and overcome a Nunn-McCurdy breach — triggered by a per-unit cost jump when the Navy cut the class from seven ships to three. According to Navy program managers, the Zumwalt is now meeting most of its cost, development and schedule targets, with no contract more than10 percent over budget and the majority of contracts within 1 or 2 percent of goal. The Navy, missions systems integrator Raytheon and the DDG-1000 industry team were recognized in August with the Defense Department’s 2010 Defense Value Engineering Award. Some software and component-level rocket motor issues on the Zumwalt’s Advanced Gun System are still being worked, but the DDG-1000 is an example of how even very large and difficult programs can be brought to order by strong teamwork.