Overview
- The Government Accountability Office reported on July 17 that the Navy’s effort to equip three Zumwalt-class destroyers with the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile is about 24 months behind schedule.
- At-sea flight testing of the CPS missile from a Zumwalt ship has slipped from 2025 to 2027, a delay the GAO tied to funding gaps, test challenges and unfinished ship work.
- Lockheed Martin’s missile production is operating at about six to seven rounds per year rather than the 12-per-year rate the program needs to stabilize output, due to labor-intensive assembly, coating problems and quality-control shortfalls.
- Modernization of the lead ship, USS Zumwalt, was 94% complete as of January 2026 but has run extra cabling and power-system work that added labor, cost and schedule risk, and the class’ unique systems raise long-term sustainment costs.
- GAO found the Defense Department lacks a comprehensive, cross-program investment strategy for CPS, said program cost estimates rose from roughly $31 billion in 2020 to about $41 billion by 2024, and recommended DOD develop and regularly review a joint strategy to reduce further delays and inefficiencies.