Well, it looks like the sad saga of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt destroyers may become even sadder, as there are now doubts that the two ships purchased may never sail.
Noah Schactman cites a report from Defense News:
Issues have arisen in guaranteeing the seals between the composite construction panels of the huge Zumwalt deckhouse… [where] all of the ship’s major sensors… are embedded in the structure, and all of the ship above the first superstructure level is contained…
[O]ne source familiar with the situation said the Navy is so worried about the problem that it has been canvassing other manufacturers of composite structures to see if an alternate production source could be found.
So will any Zumwalts be built?
… Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and a key supporter of the DDG-1000, told Defense News, “I still expect the Navy’s going to abandon the DDG-1000.”
It sure sounds to me like the ships cannot be built right now.
Background here.