Zumwalt suffers 'engineering issues' in Panama Canal

The first-in-class guided missile destroyer Zumwalt (DDG-1000) has been ordered to remain at ex-Naval Station Rodman in Panama after suffering "engineering issues" while transiting the Panama Canal, according to a Nov. 22 statement from U.S. Third Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry.

The repair schedule for the Zumwalt "is being determined now in direct coordination with Naval Sea Systems and Naval Surface Forces" and will be "flexible to enable testing and evaluation in order to ensure the ship's safe transit" to its home port in San Diego, CA, Perry wrote.

The Zumwalt was commissioned in Baltimore, MD, in October. The ship is the first of just three planned for the Zumwalt-class, a new type of destroyer built with enhanced stealth characteristics and significant land-attack capabilities.

In San Diego, the Zumwalt will enter a yearlong combat systems activation period starting in January 2017 to have its combat and mission systems installed. The ship then has to go through an extended test and evaluation program. The Zumwalt is not expected to reach initial operational capability, the point at which it can deploy, until fiscal year 2019, according to the latest selected acquisition report on the program.