News that the USS Zumwalt is being retrofitted to house the United States’ first shipborne hypersonic weapon raises questions about whether it will be enough to deter Beijing, Brent Sadler, a retired Navy captain and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Newsmax Sunday. 

“The real question is, Is this a horse race?” Sadler, appearing with China expert Gordon Chang on Newsmax’s “Sunday Report,” commented, noting that the plan to retrofit the ship goes back to President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office. 

“It’s taken this long, unfortunately, because of, I guess, indecisive leadership and financing on the plan,” said Sadler. “But of course, this needs to be based on sound naval architecture and engineering … I think it is a bit better to view this as a stepping stone to something more substantial in future naval platforms like a future destroyer.”

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