THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                             (New York, NY)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                       July 4, 2000

                               FACT SHEET

             NEW CLASS OF SHIP NAMED AFTER ADMIRAL ZUMWALT


In remarks aboard the carrier USS John F. Kennedy, President Clinton
announces today that the Navy will honor the late Admiral Elmo R.
Zumwalt, Jr., by naming its 21st Century Land Attack Destroyer Class
(the DD21s), and the lead ship in that class, after him.

Entering the Fleet at the end of this decade, the USS Zumwalt will usher
in the Navy's newest class of destroyers and is designed upon post-Cold
War requirements and 21st century naval warfare concepts.  The DD-21
class will incorporate several advanced technologies and new design
features:

Integrated Power System - The Zumwalt will be the first U.S. Navy ship
to be powered and propelled by a fully integrated power system,
including modern electric drive.  This system will allow energy to be
directed anywhere it is needed in the ship and will reduce maintenance
and construction costs while improving survivability.  It also allows
for reduction of modernization costs, extending the life of the ship and
reducing costs of future upgrades.

Human Systems Integration - The cruiser-sized Zumwalt will be manned by
a crew of fewer than a hundred and will feature new habitability
standards and shipboard amenities, including staterooms for the entire
ship's company.  Through a new training regimen and the integration of
new technology, each individual sailor will be capable of performing
more tasks than in the past.  Additionally, the quality of life, a
priority in the ship's design process, will lead to increases in
retention of personnel and decreases in recruitment shortfalls.

Weapon Systems - The DD21 will deliver an unprecedented level of
firepower from the sea.  The DD-21 will include two 155mm guns each
capable of firing 12 rounds a minute to a distance of one hundred miles.
The DD-21 will also carry the Advanced Land Attack Missile designed to
support our troops ashore by destroying armored, mobile, and hardened
targets.  The radars on the ship will be a three dimensional
surveillance radar that would search, detect, and track aircraft,
missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and helicopters.  The radar will
provide targeting data fire control to the ship's weapons systems and
will be networked to the radars and weapons of other ships.  The result
is an enlarged defensive umbrella in the air, on the surface, and
beneath the surface of the water that will assure access within
potentially hostile areas and project offensive power, if needed, more
than 1,000 miles inland.  The Zumwalt will also enhance survivability
and lethality through application of advanced stealth technology.

Each ship will have an expected service life of 35 years.  The cost is
approximately $750 million, about the same as the current destroyer
class, but will cost only one-third as much to operate.  Construction of
the first DD-21 will begin in 2005 and it will join the Fleet in 2010.

The DD-21 class is being named after Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., the
youngest officer ever to be promoted to the rank of rear admiral, and
later, the youngest ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations.  In this
post, Zumwalt presided over the Navy's revitalization, initiating
wide-ranging reforms, making naval careers more attractive, and
increasing the warfighting capabilities of the dwindling US fleet during
the 1970s.

Zumwalt, having seen the Navy through modernization and transformation
during his years of service, was decorated with three Navy Distinguished
Service Medals, two Legions of Merit, and the Bronze star with combat
"V".  In 1998, President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of
Freedom for his service in both war and peace.  He authored two books
about his life in the Navy, On Watch (1976), and My Father, My Son
(1986).



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