Palm Beach, 23 December (H.S.): President Donald Trump announced on Monday at his Mar-a-Lago resort plans for the US Navy to construct two Trump-class battleships as flagships of a revitalized Golden Fleet, boasting they would surpass World War II-era Iowa-class vessels in size, speed, and firepower by 100 times through integration of hypersonic missiles, electromagnetic railguns, high-powered lasers, and nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles.
Navy Secretary John Phelan, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, endorsed the initiative as essential for restoring American naval supremacy amid escalating tensions with adversaries like China and Venezuela.
Trump described the lead ship, USS Defiant, as exceeding 30,000-40,000 tons—dwarfing modern destroyers and rivaling the Iowa-class's 57,540-ton full load—with lengths surpassing the Iowa's 887 feet overall and beams akin to its 108 feet, yet optimized for 21st-century directed-energy and hypersonic armaments still under development.
Production at yards like Newport News would commence almost immediately, targeting delivery in roughly 2.5 years to generate thousands of jobs and deter foes through peace through strength. The fleet would complement these behemoths with swarms of unmanned vessels and corvettes, reversing recent setbacks like the Constellation-class frigate program's truncation to two hulls due to 80% destroyer costs at 60% capability.
Emphasizing his aesthetic sensibilities, Trump vowed direct involvement in the warships' styling, recounting his 2020 intervention to beautify the Constellation frigate and late-night texts to Phelan decrying rusty ships during confirmation hearings. This echoes his first-term push for steam catapults over electromagnetic systems on Ford-class carriers, prioritizing visual grandeur and durability over some naval modernizations.
Phelan affirmed the battleships as the largest, deadliest, and most versatile ever, pivotal for a fleet overhaul post-frigate cancellations and delays in Columbia-class submarines and Ford carriers.
The disclosure arrives amid US naval interdictions of Venezuelan oil tankers and strikes on suspected drug boats, with Trump linking the fleet to global deterrence and shipbuilding revival.
Analysts note battleships' obsolescence since World War II, supplanted by carriers and missiles—the Iowa-class, modernized in the 1980s with cruise missiles before 1990s decommissioning, exemplifies this shift—yet proponents see value in hybrid platforms blending armor with exotic weapons.
Critics project $5 billion per hull amid budget strains, questioning timelines for unproven railguns and lasers against peer threats like China's carrier fleet.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
