By SUZANNE DOWNING
President Donald Trump on Monday announced plans for the US Navy to develop a new class of large surface combatants, reviving the battleship concept for the first time in more than three decades.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump said he has approved a plan for the Navy to begin construction of two American-designed battleships displacing between 30,000 and 40,000 tons. The ships will be the largest the Navy has ever built and will anchor what he calls a new “golden fleet” of advanced warships. Trump was joined for the announcement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and senior military officials.
The new Trump-class vessels, are already in the design phase. The first ship, the USS Defiant, is targeted to begin construction in the early 2030s, according to Navy planning timelines, though Trump suggested during his remarks that the program could move faster. The Navy ultimately envisions a fleet of 20 to 25 ships in the class.
Phelan said the Navy has an urgent need for a heavily armed large surface combatant capable of dominating contested maritime environments. He compared the future Trump-class ships to the Iowa-class battleships that served as the backbone of US surface firepower through much of the 20th century, saying the new class would be defined by overwhelming offensive capability rather than defensive escort missions.
The Trump-class ships will incorporate weapons and technologies not available when battleships were last in service. Planned capabilities include hypersonic missiles, electromagnetic railguns, high-powered laser systems, and other directed-energy weapons. Trump also said the Navy would explore integrating long-range strike and deterrence capabilities beyond those found on existing destroyers and cruisers.
The president emphasized that the ships will be built entirely in the United States by American workers, and that the program is both a national security initiative and a major industrial investment. Construction of the new battleships will create thousands of jobs across the domestic shipbuilding and defense manufacturing sectors.
Hegseth said the battleship program aligns with the War Department’s broader goals of restoring deterrence, rebuilding military capacity, and reinforcing what he described as the warrior ethos across the armed forces. He characterized the Trump-class announcement as a generational commitment to American sea power.
The last time US battleships saw combat was during the 1991 Gulf War, when the Iowa-class USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin provided naval gunfire support against Iraqi positions along the Kuwaiti coast. The Iowa-class ships were later decommissioned, and the Navy has since relied on aircraft carriers, submarines, cruisers, and destroyers for surface warfare and strike missions.
Monday’s announcement follows the Navy’s Dec. 19 decision to pursue a new frigate program, designated FF(X), to replace the recently canceled Constellation-class frigates.
Some news analysts have raised questions about the cost, vulnerability, and strategic role of extremely large surface combatants in an era dominated by long-range missiles, submarines, and unmanned systems. Administration officials acknowledged that final designs, budgets, and construction schedules will require congressional approval and further development, but said the Trump-class battleships will redefine naval dominance for the modern era rather than replicate the battleships of the past.
3 thoughts on “Trump, Hegseth, Rubio announce new class of modern battleship: Trump Class”
While I remain skeptical about the survival rate of current weapons systems in the new combat world of drone / robot swarms, if this signals the repair of a seriously broken acquisition system for ships, it will be a big win. Everything else is a bomb magnet as we have been seeing in Ukraine for the last couple years. Cheers –
Like Alex, I am skeptical about building large, expensive, vulnerable targets. Warfare in the Ukraine has led to the development and deployment of multitudinous inexpensive drones, including water drones. And the Russians have used the Oreshnik hypersonic kinetic missile system. I wonder if the new ships can best be viewed as monuments to the past rather than weapons.
China has a vast fleet of battleships with a huge supply of amphibious assault vehicles.
These new battleships planned may be an answer to Chinas huge fleet already much larger than the US fleet.
These ships will obviously have an “Iron dome” capacity to easily handle and defend air or water drones with nuclear missiles onboard as well.
Chinas offensive fleet capability must be met with strength.
The “Sittting duck” with the “China First” response was miraculously voted out in 2024!
I prefer the new Iran without nuclear capabilities versus Biden/Obamas phony “monitoring” plan.
Venezuela is learning the new “America First” policy is the opposite of Joe Biden’s policy of shutting down Alaskan oil and and buying oil from Venezuela after the Saudi’s refusal to cooperate with his plea for more oil.