People usually hear about Linux being found in all sorts of devices and rather peaceful enterprises, but there are exceptions. DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer is one of those.

Linux has been spotted in all kinds of places, at NASA, on the International Space Station, at particle accelerators, at labs from across the world, helping scientists with studies over the Antarctic, and so on. Engineers are using it to build humanoid robot and car manufactures are finding Linux an indispensable tool. There are two main reasons for this: security and reliability.

That also means that Linux can be used for other purposes as well, like in the scope of a sniper rifle or in the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer that is being built by the US Navy. Linux provides a solid platform to build safe and flexible operating systems and the US Navy apparently knows this. They are not using a particular distro, just the Linux kernel.

DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer is basically powered by Linux

Zumwalt is a new class of destroyers that aims to have a low radar signature (hence the weird shape) and to be the smaller one in its class. And if we read about Zumwalt-class destroyer on Wikipedia correctly, we learn that it also comes with "an integrated power system, which can send electricity to the electric drive motors or weapons, which may someday include a railgun or free-electron lasers," which is quite interesting.

The ship also comes with a cool and very different command center, that looks much more like the space-ships we're used to see on TV. According to foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com, the entire ship features a "Linux-based, Raytheon-built, Total Shipboard Computing Environment (TSCE)" and uses 16 IBM blade servers.

Only three of these destroyers have been ordered and it's one of the most expensive projects of the US Navy. Also, not much naval warfare has been going on in the past couple of decades, making this destroyer look out of place. In any case, the fact that Linux is used in such a huge project is a testament of just how important this OS has become in today's world.