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320 missile tubes instead of 15
The destroyer math
Firepower on a ship is counted in vertical launch system tubes, each of which holds a big missile such as a Tomahawk. A naval destroyer costs about $3 billion to buy, before any sustainment or maintenance, and takes 6 to 8 years to build. It carries about 96 tubes, which rounds to 100 for easy math. That works out to somewhere between 10 and 15 tubes fielded per year, at roughly $30 million per tube.
The Marauder plan
Saronic's Marauder is a 180-foot fully autonomous ship that can carry the equivalent of 16 tubes aboard. The company plans to build 20 Marauders per year at its shipyard in Louisiana, which comes to 320 tubes a year at a fraction of the cost per tube.
The savings
Multiplied across a fleet, that difference runs to hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers, with more capability in the field sooner. For a mission of long-range fires, leaving the crew at home costs nothing in capability: the launchers are the same, and the people stay out of harm's way.
Why do missile tubes count as firepower?
A vertical launch system packs missile cells beneath a ship's deck, and each missile fires straight up before turning toward its target. The US Navy's Mk 41 launcher is built in eight-cell modules, and a single cell can hold anything from a Tomahawk cruise missile to an air-defense missile, depending on the mission. Because the cells are interchangeable, a ship's tube count sets how many missiles it can carry. The Mk 41 first entered service in 1986 aboard the cruiser USS Bunker Hill.
Why has the Arleigh Burke class lasted so long?
The lead ship, USS Arleigh Burke, was commissioned in 1991, and the Navy has kept building the class in upgraded versions called flights. Each flight keeps the same basic hull while swapping in newer radars, combat systems, and electronics. The Navy has built dozens of them. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh Burke, who led destroyer squadrons in the Pacific in World War II and later served as Chief of Naval Operations.
Why does a destroyer take years to build?
A destroyer fits a radar, a combat system, engines, and thousands of pipes and cables into one hull, and the systems must be installed and tested together. Skilled trades such as welding and pipefitting take years to develop, and a yard cannot add them overnight. After construction, the ship goes through builder's trials and Navy acceptance trials at sea. The Navy conducts those acceptance trials before it takes delivery of a ship.
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