For much of modern naval history, the role of a destroyer has been to protect larger warships from attack by enemy submarines, surface combatants, and aircraft. This objective was accomplished with a variety of guns, with the largest generally being five inches­—thus far smaller than the main guns of cruisers and battleships.

Modern destroyers continue to serve in those roles by being fast, maneuverable, and armed with modern weapons that include air-defense missiles, anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine rockets, and even torpedoes. Yet the guns hadn't totally disappeared from the picture. The U.S. Navy's newest Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers are armed with the Mk 45 five-inch 54/62 caliber guns, which can fire 16 to 20 rounds per minute to a range of 13 nautical miles with conventional ammunition.

The U.S. Navy also sought to equip the Zumwalt-class destroyers with the 155mm Advanced Gun System, which proved to be a failure due to the high cost of the ammunition. Currently, the service's three warships of the class are being modified to operate with hypersonic missile launchers as an attempt to find a purpose for the three vessels of the class­but how it will fare still has yet to be seen.

It would appear the U.S. Navy seeks to go in a different direction with the DDG(X).

A 'Gun-less' Destroyer

According to a rendering of the sea service's next-generation destroyer, the surface combatant might not have any significant gun at all—­becoming the first purpose-built "gun-less" class of destroyer. Naval News the PMS 460 DDG(X) Program Office rendering, which seems to be a change of course given that a previous concept image unveiled in 2022 showed the DDG(X) with a five-inch Mk 45 Mod 4 gun forward of the vessel's midsection superstructure.

"According to the U.S. Navy, this design was purely conceptual and rendered prior to a final decision," Naval News reported. "The latest rendering, revealed by Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships during a ceremony for outgoing DDG(X) program manager Captain Matt Schroeder, features significant changes to weapon systems onboard the ship, including an overhaul of major weapon systems."

Visibly missing was the Mk 45 gun, but it was not the only notable change.

The warship retained its Mk 41 VLS modules, which are now "stacked front to back" in a four 8x2 cell configuration. Also missing was a 150-kilowatt laser, suggesting the U.S. Navy continues to second guess the future of directed energy weapons (DEWs), at least in the next generation of warships. Again, it is just a render, and entirely possible that lasers could return.

Design Will Continue, ­Construction Won't Begin

Construction on the DDG(X) isn't set to begin construction until 2032, but the U.S. Navy will want to avoid the pitfalls it has experienced with the Constellation-class frigate program. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned in May that the design for the future frigates remained incomplete; more than a year after construction had begun.

As a result, the delivery of the vessels has been delayed by at least three years. Though previous plans had called for the lead vessel to be delivered by the end of 2026, the U.S. Navy isn't expected to receive the future USS Constellation until at least 2029.

Gibbs and Cox, a U.S. naval architecture firm and Leidos subsidiary, will reportedly continue the design and feasibility efforts for the United States Navy's future guided-missile destroyer, DDG(X), and last February the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the company another contract modification worth $36.7m towards the effort.

The DDG(X) program, designated PMS 460, was first initiated back in 2021 to develop a new class of warships that would replace the U.S. Navy's aging Ticonderoga-class cruisers and older Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, with the first vessels expected to enter service in the early 2030s. The weapons and sensors­, possibly apart from the five-inch gun, ­will be similar to the Aegis combat system employed on the Arleigh Burke-class Flight III DDGs, while the propulsion for the DDG(X) could be based on the Integrated Power System employed on the U.S. Navy's three Zumwalt-class destroyers.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

Image: Wikimedia Commons.