President Donald Trump announced on Dec. 22 that the U.S. Navy will acquire two new battleships in the 2030s that will be “the largest we’ve ever built.”
Construction of the ship, known as the Trump-class battleship, is expected to begin in the early 2030s, according to the Department of the Army (officially known as the Department of Defense). President Trump said the ships would be part of a new “Golden Fleet” of advanced warships.
President Trump has said he would build 20 to 25 battleships. Work on the first two ships will begin immediately, he said.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan compared the new battleships to the World War II-era Iowa-class battleships, which were a major part of the Navy’s fleet from the 1940s to the early 1990s.
But the first Trump-class battleship, known as the USS Defiant, “will be the largest, deadliest, most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere in the world’s oceans,” Phelan said.
How does the Trump-class battleship compare to other battleships?
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“I’m a very aesthetic person, so the Navy will be leading the design of the ship,” Trump said during the unveiling ceremony at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
What kind of weapons will be installed on the Trump-class battleship?
President Trump said the ship’s weapons include cruise missiles, 30mm cannons, ODIN lasers and nuclear weapons. USA TODAY reported that artificial intelligence will also be a “big factor” in the ship’s capabilities.
President Trump said the new battleships are intended to be built in the United States by American citizens. “This construction will create thousands of jobs in the United States, and we’re going to get them created,” he said.
According to USNI News, the cost to build one Trump-class battleship in a U.S. shipyard could range from $10 billion to $15 billion. It is based on the size of the ship and the systems it has on board.
NPR reports that the Navy experienced some difficulties with some of the weapons systems planned for the battleship. I abandoned the railgun project in 2021. Laser technology is used on ships, but with limited deployment.
President Trump has said he could build as many as 20 Trump-class battleships, but the Navy has already built four Iowa-class battleships. The other two cars were scrapped.
The Iowa-class battleships replaced two older types of battleships: the North Carolina-class battleships and the South Dakota-class battleships.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman writes for USA TODAY
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. Reuters; U.S. Naval Research Institute; Department of the Army; Military Times. Breaking Down Defenses; Naval History and Heritage Command. seapowermagazine.org
