Key Takeaways
- The US President, Donald Trump, has announced plans for a new "Trump-class" battleship, which he claims will be the fastest, biggest, and most powerful battleship ever built.
- However, battleships have been obsolete for decades, and the US Navy retired the last Iowa-class ships nearly 30 years ago.
- Defense experts believe that the program will be too expensive, take too long to design, and run counter to the Navy’s current strategy of distributed firepower.
- The proposed battleship will be equipped with conventional guns, missiles, electronic rail guns, and laser-based weaponry, but its size and cost make it a potentially vulnerable and expensive asset.
- The cost of building and maintaining the battleship is estimated to be upwards of $8 billion, which will put pressure on an already strained Navy budget.
Introduction to the Trump-Class Battleship
The US President, Donald Trump, recently announced plans for a new "Trump-class" battleship, which he claims will be the fastest, biggest, and most powerful battleship ever built. The proposed battleship will be part of a new "Golden Fleet" of warships and will be equipped with advanced weaponry, including conventional guns, missiles, electronic rail guns, and laser-based weaponry. However, defense experts have raised concerns about the feasibility and practicality of the program, citing the obsolescence of battleships and the high cost of building and maintaining such a vessel.
The Obsolescence of Battleships
Battleships have been obsolete for decades, and the US Navy retired the last Iowa-class ships nearly 30 years ago. The last battleship was built more than 80 years ago, and the introduction of aircraft carriers and modern destroyers has made them largely redundant. Despite this, President Trump has hailed the new battleship as a symbol of American military supremacy, claiming that it will "help maintain American military supremacy [and] inspire fear in America’s enemies all over the world." However, defense experts believe that the program is a prestige project that will not provide a significant military advantage.
Criticism from Defense Experts
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has dismissed the idea of building a new battleship, stating that "there is little need for said discussion because this ship will never sail." He argues that the program will take too long to design, cost far too much, and run counter to the Navy’s current strategy of distributed firepower. Bernard Loo, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, has also criticized the proposal, comparing it to Japan’s World War II super-battleships Yamato and Musashi, which were sunk by carrier-borne aircraft before playing a significant role in combat.
The Cost and Practicality of the Program
The cost of building and maintaining the proposed battleship is estimated to be upwards of $8 billion, which will put pressure on an already strained Navy budget. The Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers, which are the largest surface combatants currently in service, were reduced from 32 to three ships due to spiraling costs. The Constellation-class frigate was also cancelled due to design and workforce challenges. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, has estimated that the Trump-class battleship will cost two to three times more than today’s destroyers, which are priced at about $2.7 billion each.
The Symbolic Power of Battleships
Despite the criticism and concerns about the practicality of the program, President Trump may be drawn to the symbolic power of battleships, which were the most visible icons of naval firepower for much of the 20th century. The USS Missouri, which was completed in 1944 and is the last US battleship built, famously hosted Japan’s surrender in 1945. Clark has noted that the US Navy recommissioned four World War II battleships in the 1980s as part of its 600-ship fleet expansion strategy during the Cold War to counter the Soviet Union. This may be an era in which the President believes the US last had naval supremacy.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the proposed "Trump-class" battleship is a contentious issue that has raised concerns about its feasibility, practicality, and cost. While President Trump has hailed the new battleship as a symbol of American military supremacy, defense experts believe that the program is a prestige project that will not provide a significant military advantage. The cost of building and maintaining the battleship is estimated to be upwards of $8 billion, which will put pressure on an already strained Navy budget. As the US Navy continues to evolve and adapt to new threats and technologies, it remains to be seen whether the proposed battleship will become a reality or if it will be cancelled due to its high cost and impracticality.