Zumwalt (DDG-1000) sees delays in path to IOC

The Zumwalt (DDG-1000) will be delayed in reaching initial operational capability, according to the Navy's top surface warfare officer.

"It's not going as rapidly as we wanted it to go," Vice Adm. Tom Rowden, commander of Naval Surface Forces, told reporters on the sidelines of the Surface Navy Association's conference today. "We have first-of-class ship [and] first-of-class combat system. We've got to get DDG-1000 ready, and we’re taking the time to do that."

Rowden also said Zumwalt is in the middle of a post-shakedown availability in San Diego.

Zumwalt went out to sea last February to test the ship's radar. Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, head of Naval Sea Systems Command, told reporters at the time the post-shakedown availability period following the at-sea tests would last six months, Inside the Navy reported.