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Posted on 05/13/2026 1:44:29 PM PDT by MacNaughton
The service plans to buy 15 Trump-class battleships over 30 years while also expanding its fleet of autonomous medium unmanned surface vessels.
The U.S. Navy on Monday unveiled fresh details about its future Trump-class battleship program. For the first time, officials confirmed that the large warship will use nuclear power and act as a heavily armed command ship for future naval operations.
This information was included in the Navy’s new 30-year shipbuilding plan. The plan also describes major changes to the fleet, such as adding many autonomous ships, buying new submarines, and retiring older aircraft carriers and submarines.
The proposed battleship is expected to cost as much as $17.5 billion per vessel and will not replace the current Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. In December 2025, US President Donald Trump had announced the Navy’s intent to develop a new class of American-designed, 30,000 to 40,000-ton large surface combatants, or battleships.
The plan, released Monday, stated, “The nuclear-powered battleship is designed to provide the fleet with a significant increase in combat power by longer endurance, higher speed, and accommodating advanced weapon systems required for modern warfare.”
“Adding capability at the highest end of the high-low mix, the battleship’s primary role is to deliver high-volume, long-range offensive fires and serve as a robust, survivable forward command and control platform; it is not a destroyer replacement.” ...
(Excerpt) Read more at interestingengineering.com ...
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An earlier lengthy commentary by FReepers.
12/28/2025: Free Republic - "The Trump-Class Battleship Is Not the Ship the Navy Needs"
#24 Da Coyote: "we really don’t want more giant targets in this day of drones and hypersonic missiles. I don’t know which military planners agreed with this, but hopefully it’ll be put to an early death. Were I the enemy (China, Islam, and DempoRATz), I’d just overwhelm the ships with attack drones."
I thought battleships were obsolete?
No Harvey Milk class ships?
I personally think they should have more CIWS in the design.
Its more of a guided missile battle cruiser than battleship.
15 of these CLEARLY vanity ships...
Vs 75 New Baby Aegis frigates.
Or 40 new Virginia class submarines.
It don’t get much stupider than that.
That would be every ferry in the SF embarcadero.
They (sort of) tried this with the Zumwalt destroyer. It’s a very large, very powerful destroyer. At the time of the design there was some debate — “Is this a destroyer? Or are we actually building a battleship?”
Well, the Zumwalts eventually cost $10B each, or so. And their main armament was an Advanced Gun System with ammo that’s just too expensive to fire. So they don’t really have any sort of main armament.
Will a $15B battleship be a better idea? Here’s a question — why are be not sending an aircraft carrier into the Straits of Hormuz? Here’s the answer — in the age of drones and missiles, a great big capital ship would be a sitting duck if it were close to the enemy.
Big ship are big targets
In a world of coordinated drones and cheap missiles, is this the best idea?
Because that worked against less capable destroyers. You are the enemy we wish for.
Thought battleships were outdated. Is he gonna show the Great White Fleet like Teddy Roosevelt? I’ll go along with that.
“hey (sort of) tried this with the Zumwalt destroyer. It’s a very large, very powerful destroyer.”
Nah. It was a whimp. Big, but a whimp.I just went to the last launching, the USS Pierre (LCS-38) here in Panama City. It is an entirely under armed ship. I’m not even sure what its role in Navy warfare is.
Its important not to think of a “battleship” as in the WWI-or II era big gun behemoth.
Battleship in this case is more like a missile cuiser but meant to be a line battle platform for drones and missiles.
Trump Class. I love it. Just name everything Trump to drive the left crazy.
[Here’s a question — why are be not sending an aircraft carrier into the Straits of Hormuz? Here’s the answer — in the age of drones and missiles, a great big capital ship would be a sitting duck if it were close to the enemy.]
Since Trump thinks big, my best guess:
Trump: I want 15 new battleships.
Admiral to Trump: Yes sir.
Admiral to aide, later: This is a bad idea. Let’s slow-walk it and hope he changes his mind.
“It don’t get much stupider than that.”
If only our military planners were as smart as you!
Will they call it a BBG?
So all this time the sitting duck has been in range. WTF happened, nothing, your premise is more than flawed it is scare tactics idiocy, Man up, the USN is. Match the squid balls.
Before air power, battleships were a way of projecting force across the globe. After air power, air craft carriers are the way to project force across the globe.
We are in the space age. During the Cold War the ultimate method of project force across the world was ICBM’s.
I understand that an armored battleship can sustain lots of drone or swarm boat damage and still fight. However, drones and small boat missiles are getting stronger and stronger. Not sure the long term benefits of building 30 nuclear powered battleships warrants the cost, unless we want to park one in just about every country we are interested in protecting as a floating nuclear tipped missile warehouse.
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