Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Dec 23: US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new class of battleships bearing his name has once again put the spotlight on the United States Navy’s struggling shipbuilding programme, which has faced repeated delays and cost overruns in recent years. Trump himself acknowledged these shortcomings while unveiling the proposal during a speech at Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
“We make the greatest equipment in the world, by far, nobody’s even close. But we don’t produce them fast enough,” Trump said, adding that he would soon meet top US military contractors to accelerate production of the proposed battleships and other weapons systems.
According to a US Navy fact sheet released the same day, the proposed Trump-class battleships are envisioned as the most lethal surface warships ever built. Measuring up to 880 feet in length and displacing between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes, they would be the largest surface combatants constructed by the US Navy since World War II. The legendary USS Missouri, which hosted Japan’s surrender in 1945, was 887 feet long and displaced about 58,000 tonnes, while the Navy’s current largest surface ships, the Zumwalt-class destroyers, displace roughly 15,000 tonnes.
The Navy claims the new battleships would have unprecedented firepower, including nuclear-capable hypersonic cruise missiles capable of striking targets at significantly longer ranges than previous surface ships. The vessels are also expected to be equipped with 128 vertical launch cells for Tomahawk cruise missiles, anti-ship weapons and missile defence interceptors, along with rail guns, five-inch conventional guns, lasers and close-range defensive systems. Trump claimed the ships would be 100 times more powerful than their World War II-era predecessors.
However, defence experts have raised concerns about the feasibility of the plan, noting that the administration has not announced a timeline for design or construction. Navy Secretary John Phelan has previously admitted that the service’s shipbuilding programmes are in disarray, with even the best-performing projects running months behind schedule and significantly over budget. The recently cancelled Constellation-class frigate programme was already years behind schedule, while the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy has faced nearly two years of delays due to unresolved technical issues.
Analysts also warn that building vessels of the Trump-class size would place additional strain on already limited shipyard capacity, potentially requiring the reopening of closed facilities or the construction of new ones. Workforce shortages pose another major challenge, with Navy officials acknowledging difficulties in recruiting skilled labour for demanding shipyard jobs amid competition from higher-paying private-sector employment.
Cost remains another significant concern. Trump has said the new battleships would eventually replace the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which currently cost around $2 billion each. By contrast, estimates suggest a Trump-class battleship could cost as much as $15 billion per vessel.
Observers have also pointed to the Navy’s mixed track record in following through on ambitious shipbuilding plans. The Zumwalt-class destroyer programme was reduced from an original plan of 32 ships to just three, while the Constellation-class frigate project was sharply scaled back. Other programmes, such as the Littoral Combat Ships, have drawn criticism for reliability issues and unclear operational roles, with several vessels retired after only a few years of service.
While experts agree that the US has the technical capability to build such warships, they caution that shipyard capacity, workforce availability and sustained political commitment will determine whether the Trump-class battleships move beyond vision to reality.