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Surface Navy 2025: DDGX needed for future weapons systems, Leonardo DRS officials say

By Michael Fabey |

The US Navy is considering a new surface combatant, the DDGX, which would generate more power for directed energy weapons such as the laser system depicted here. (Lockheed Martin)

Red Sea naval operations underscore a need for the US Navy (USN) to develop and deploy ships such as the proposed next-generation guided-missile destroyer (DDGX) that can meet greater power needs than being met by the current fleet of DDG 51s, according to Ed Thaxton, executive vice-president for engineering and strategy at Leonardo DRS.

The USN needs more power generation to deploy directed energy weapons and other related technology to counter unmanned systems now being used to attack naval and commercial forces in the Red Sea, Thaxton told Janes on 10 January during a briefing in advance of the Surface Navy Association National Symposium 2025, held from 14 to 16 January.

“We're at the beginning of a race for unmanned drones and the ability to break down their communications,” he said. “It's another way of prosecuting drones inexpensively. Either one of them is in a full sprint. And every bit of that race is about generating power.”

When it comes to generating power, the current fleet of DDG 51s simply lack the infrastructure to provide any additional margin, and particularly the extra energy that will be needed to power future directed energy weapons, Jon Miller, senior vice-president and general manager for Leonardo DRS Naval Power Systems, told Janes during the 10 January briefing.

“That ship is pretty well maxed out,” Miller said.

The navy is trying to augment current DDG capability with new radar suites.

For more information on the effort, please see Special Report: New SPY-6 radar variant boosts destroyer combat capability .

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