He stopped and turned toward her, showing her into a large room that resembled an office more than the inside of a battleship.
“This is our operations center,” Meecham continued his presentation. “This is the only class of battleships that features the total ship computing environment. Any operator can control any of the ship’s systems from any of these stations.” Meecham pointed toward one of the computer desks, each featuring three monitors.
Alex looked around the massive room.
On one of the walls, above the operations center, were three main LCD screens displaying radar and navigation information. Alex counted at least twelve of those computer workstations, some staffed, some deserted. At one of the manned stations, an operator was showing something to Faisal Kundi.
She had a million questions, but didn’t want to flaunt her ignorance and raise any red flags. She proceeded cautiously.
“What else is unique to the Zumwalt-class destroyer?” Alex asked.
Meecham smiled proudly and said, “Almost everything. Nearly all systems are integrated; for example, we have an integrated power system, generating electricity for the ship’s propulsion, weapons, and electronics. The propulsion is all electric, quiet, and it can do thirty knots and still power up everything else. Our engines are Rolls-Royce gas turbines driving generators.”
“This is unusual, right?”
“It’s innovative, new, and has only been deployed on this class of destroyers so far. We call it the all-electric ship. And here’s another unique feature — the integrated undersea warfare system,” he said, pointing at a specific area on the ship’s blueprint displayed on a monitor. “It’s an automated system of two sonar arrays, offering early detection for any underwater threats, such as mines, torpedoes, or submarines.”
“How about weapons?”
“Our missile launchers are vertical, buried in the hull along the sides; that’s a key feature to maintain our stealth capabilities. Above deck we have two 155mm guns that can shoot self-propelled, in-flight guided ordnance, with a range of eighty-three nautical miles.”
“Sea targets?” Alex asked.
“Sea, land, and air,” Meecham replied with parental pride.
“How about the new laser cannon? Where are they installing it?” Alex looked at her notes.
“That location was quite the controversy with the Walcott engineering team members. Originally, they wanted to remove one of the 155mm guns, to make room for the cannon. Then someone figured out that because the cannon doesn’t weigh much and doesn’t recoil, it could be installed on top of the helo hangar. After they did a few studies to confirm that the radar cross section or the aerodynamics of the ship would not be impacted by that choice of installation, it got approved.”
He turned and started walking briskly, and she followed, curious to see the cannon’s future location.
They entered the helo hangar from inside the deckhouse; it was deserted and marked with signage to alert that construction was in progress. Noises of hammers hitting metal, and the distinctive sound made by welding torches was coming from outside.
“We needed to reinforce the structure to support the cannon installation. The entire deckhouse, including the hangar, has a composite structure, to make it light and reduce radar signature. Now that reinforcement is complete; they’ve started the actual installation work. Let’s see,” he said, carefully exiting the hangar, trying to avoid tripping on loose cabling, scattered tools, and equipment crates.
Alex saw Sylvia discussing energetically with Bob over a blueprint, their heads close together; from a distance, they seemed to be having an argument, some sort of a technical disagreement.
Quentin was working on a mobile weapons control interface, a device that looked like a rugged laptop. As for Vern, the sex-bomb with a PhD, he was nowhere in sight.
“Do you have women serving on the Fletcher?” she asked innocently.
“Yes, we do. Out of our complement of 140, there are 27 women, mostly in computer operations.”
Probably that’s where Vernon Blackburn was, looking for his next adventure at sea. Alex turned her attention back to Captain Meecham, who stood silently, waiting to be of service.
“How will the laser cannon work? Why is it so special?”
“It will reside in a cupola, whose components will retract allowing the cannon to become exposed and have line of fire with the target. You can see the components of that cupola over there,” he said, pointing at two white quarter-sphere assembly elements. “The cannon brings a sizeable advantage to our weapons array, because of its precision, which is unprecedented, and its low cost to operate. It also brings a humanitarian aspect to our military engagements. With the laser, we can target the propulsion or the weapons systems of an enemy vessel, and cause zero or almost zero casualties. We don’t need to sink ships to disable them; not with the laser cannon.”
“How precise are we talking?” Alex asked. “You mentioned your 155mm guns have in-flight guidance, right? That makes them fairly precise, I’d guess.”
“With the laser cannon we can blow up a can of Coke from the hull of a vessel from 500 yards and leave the vessel intact, that’s how precise it can be. We can take a drone out from the air at 250 yards, where few people even see it. Actually, if everything goes well with this installation, on Memorial Day, we’ll host a ceremony and demonstrate the cannon to SecNav and SecDef.”
“You mentioned cost as being one of the advantages?”
“Yes, and a major one. An in-flight guided 155mm shell is almost $50,000, and a Tomahawk missile will set you back $1.41 million. Even if you choose to use ‘dumb’ 155mm shells, unguided ones, they go up to $1,000 each, and the cost stacks up fast due to the loss in accuracy and effectiveness. So, you see how the laser cannon brings an advantage at roughly $1 per shot, right?”
“Yes,” she said, absorbing everything and putting it into the perspective of her mission. “Thank you, Captain Meecham, I think I’m good from here,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Please let me know if you have any other questions. You haven’t worked on Navy ships before, have you?”
“N — no, just got the assignment, but thank you for the tour, it was very informative,” she replied without skipping a beat. You have a fantastic ship, captain.”
He smiled and then quickly disappeared.
She turned her attention toward the Walcott team and started approaching Sylvia and Bob, who were still engulfed in their dispute. She decided to spend a little more time watching them from a distance, and stopped near the hangar door. In the meantime, Vern had made his appearance and was working intently on his laptop, installed on a makeshift table.
She heard a faint noise to her left and caught a glimpse of a young sailor sneaking carefully through a bulkhead. He looked left, then right, carefully making sure no one saw him.
“Hi,” she said, surprising him.
He looked down, averting her eyes. He was young, maybe not even twenty years old, and had tousled red hair and the freckled complexion that typically accompanies that hair color. He looked scared, almost as if someone was chasing him, or was about to.
“It’s OK,” she said, “I’m a civilian consultant. Out to smoke?”
He nodded sheepishly, blushing copiously, and throwing guilty glances left and right.
“I don’t really care, you know,” she continued, “go ahead and smoke if you want. It’ll be our little secret.”
The sailor nodded and mumbled something that sounded like “thanks,” then disappeared through the same bulkhead he’d appeared from.