Mark Cancian: “On December 22, President Trump announced a new class of ‘battleships’ that will be 100 times more powerful than previous battleships and larger than any other surface combatant on the oceans. The ship’s purported characteristics are so extraordinary that the announcement will surely spark immense discussion.”
“However, there is little need for said discussion because this ship will never sail. It will take years to design, cost $9 billion each to build, and contravene the Navy’s new concept of operations, which envisions distributed firepower. A future administration will cancel the program before the first ship hits the water.”
Independent naval analysts note that integrating so many immature technologies in one massive hull almost guarantees Zumwalt‑style cost and schedule overruns that make the program a prime target for cancellation.
And the Navy itself indicates that construction of the first Trump‑class ship is not expected to begin until the early 2030s, meaning the program must survive multiple future administrations and Congresses.
