The Navy has announced that its next-generation guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is scheduled to be homeported at Naval Base San Diego following its commissioning in fall 2016. Zumwalt is scheduled to arrive in San Diego in late 2016. The ship is currently conducting hull, mechanical, and electrical tests and trials, with a subsequent period to follow for combat and mission system equipment installation, activation, and testing.

This represents the culmination of years of hard work and unwavering dedication by one of the "most talented teams" of civilian, military and industry partners, said Rear-Admiral James Downey, DDG-1000 Program Manager.

"This program has come a long way since the preliminary concept designs of the ’90s and the engineering and modeling of the early 2000s, wrote US RAdm Downey. "It wasn’t until we started fabrication in 2009 and laid the keel in 2011 that the idea of DDG-1000 started to take shape and become more of reality. With the erection of the deckhouse in 2012 and the arrival of the first crew members in 2013, this ship started to feel more like a warship than a hull. The last year has been punctuated by program highlights as DDG-1000 prepared for delivery and construction progressed across the other two hulls. Personally, I will never forget the first day Zumwalt got underway – December 7, 2015. The pride (and relief) was overwhelming. We completed two more sets of sea trials in March and April of 2016, ensuring the readiness and quality of the ship we received today."

The ship is commanded by Capt. James A. Kirk.

DDG 1000 is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission surface combatants tailored for land attack and littoral dominance with capabilities to defeat current and projected threats. Zumwalt will triple naval surface fire coverage, add an improved sonar system to track deep and shallow water threats, as well as pace current anti-ship cruise missile threats. For today's warfighter, DDG 1000 fills an immediate and critical naval warfare gap, meeting validated Marine Corps fire support requirements.

The multi-mission DDG 1000 is tailored for sustained operations in the littorals and land attack, and will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. Its multi-mission design and littoral capabilities make it a 100 percent globally deployable asset to the fleet.

The U.S. Navy continually monitors force readiness and ability to provide the most robust, capable maritime force possible. Stationing destroyers in a West Coast port supports rebalance to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, placing our most advanced capabilities and greater capacity in that vital theater. By 2020, the U.S. Navy expects that approximately 60% of its ships and aircraft will be based in the region.