Trump Unveils New Battleship Class; Proposed USS Defiant Will Be Largest U.S. Surface Combatant Since WWII
By Mallory Shelbourne and Sam LaGroneDecember 22, 2025 7:07 PM
Naval Sea Systems Command image
The centerpiece of the Trump administration’s revamp of the U.S. Navy is the largest surface combatant America will build since World War II.
The U.S. Navy will buy two new “battleships” as part of the “Golden Fleet” effort, President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan announced Monday at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump said the Navy will start by purchasing two ships and eventually purchase 10, with a goal of 20 to 25 in total for the class with the start of construction planned for 2030.
“The U.S. Navy will lead the design, along with me, because I’m a very aesthetic person,” Trump said.
Images of a future USS Defiant (BBG-1) were featured alongside Trump, Hegseth and Phelan, as well as a ship logo based on the July 13, 2024, Evan Vucci photo taken shortly after Trump was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt amid his presidential campaign.
“The future Trump-class battleship – the USS Defiant – will be the largest, deadliest and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans,” Phelan said during the presentation. “Now there will be work for shipyards everywhere from Philadelphia to San Diego, from Maine to Mississippi, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, and for manufacturers that will build components for this battleship in every state.”
The new platform will be a more than 35,000-ton warship and draft 24 to 30 feet, according to Navy data reviewed by USNI News. That’s more than double the size of the 15,000-ton Zumwalt class of destroyers, which is the largest surface combatant currently in the fleet.
The steel ships will be built in the U.S., the president said, but he noted the U.S. will work with others, without disclosing whether other countries would be involved in the construction.
When asked if the new ship class is meant to counter China, Trump said: “It’s a counter to everybody. It’s not China.”The new ships will replace the Navy’s next-generation DDG(X) program, which was projected to be about half the size of this proposed battleship. Construction is slated to begin in the early 2030s with the Navy serving as the lead design agent for the effort, USNI News understands. The Navy first unveiled the DDG(X) concept in 2022.
Like the DDG(X) program, the new ships will feature existing combat systems and weapons in use on the Flight III Arleigh Burke DDG-51 guided-missile destroyers. They will field the AN/SPY-6 air search radar, 128 MK-41 vertical launch system cells, 12 Conventional Prompt Strike long-range hypersonic missiles and five-inch guns, two sources familiar with the plans told USNI News. The design will also leave margin to add additional weapons, including directed energy, the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile and potentially a 32 Megajoule rail gun, according to Navy data.
Like the initial DDG(X) concept, Defiant would use gas turbines and diesels to drive an electrical grid that would supply power to the ship’s weapon systems and sensors, according to the Navy data. The ship would be capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots. The flight deck and hangar will be capable of fielding V-22 Osprey tilt-rotors and the next future vertical lift aircraft.
“The battleship will be capable of operating independently, as part of a Carrier Strike Group, or commanding its own Surface Action Group depending on the mission and threat environment,” reads the Navy data sheet for Defiant. “With the ability to provide forward command and control for both manned and unmanned platforms, [the] battleship will be a critical component in executing the Navy Warfighting Concept.”
The announcement comes as the Trump administration overhauls the Navy’s acquisition plans for the surface fleet. Last week, Phelan and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said the service would buy a patrol frigate based on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter program built by HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding.
That decision followed Phelan’s truncation of the Constellation-class frigate line last month after the program faced ongoing delays due to design and workforce challenges.
The Navy explored multiple size options, including up to 50,000 tons, before settling on a 30,000-ton battleship, USNI News understands. Other options included a smaller ship that could have been 15,000 to 20,000 tons.
Naval analyst Bryan Clark told USNI News earlier this month that the Navy is considering buying 12 to 13 vessels in this new ship class that could field large hypersonic missiles in large specialized missile tubes in addition to the traditional MK-41 VLS cells. The three Zumwalt-class destroyers are currently having Conventional Prompt Strike tubes installed at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss.
The cost of building this battleship in an American yard could range from $10 to $15 billion, based on the size and the systems that are included, USNI News understands.
The Navy previously worked with HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, which have both built surface combatants.
Both yards said they are standing by to support the Navy’s new effort.
“General Dynamics Bath Iron Works stands ready to fully support the Navy in the design and construction of this important new shipbuilding program,” Charles Krugh, the president of Bath Iron Works, said in a statement provided to USNI News.
HII CEO Chris Kastner said in a statement to USNI News: “We understand the urgency and have taken a number of actions to increase the speed at which we can deliver. We have seen improvements in our labor and throughput and expect these to continue in 2026. These efforts combined with our distributed shipbuilding network are working, and more capacity is being created to meet these critical requirements.”
Asked how the U.S. would ensure it has a sufficient workforce to build the new ships, Trump said shipyards would utilize robots.
The U.S. industrial base has not delivered a battleship to the Navy since 1944, when the 60,000-ton USS Missouri (BB-63) was turned over to the Navy. Missouri was later the site of Japan’s formal declaration of surrender at the end of World War II.
Since then, the Zumwalt class at 15,000 tons has been the largest surface combatant in the fleet. The Navy proposed building a 20,000-ton guided-missile cruiser – the CG(X) – but the Obama administration cancelled the program in 2010 due to cost and schedule reasons. Instead, the Navy elected to build the Flight III Arleigh Burkes.
Over the years the Navy has struggled to move forward with its DDG(X) program, a planned follow-on to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. Planned purchase and construction timelines for DDG(X) were delayed several times as the Navy racked up bills for current ship classes and the development of new programs like the next-generation attack submarine and the sixth-generation fighter.
Trump Battleship Will be Largest Surface Combatant Since WWII - USNI News
The centerpiece of the Trump administration’s revamp of the U.S. Navy is the largest surface combatant America will build since World War II. The U.S. Navy will buy two new “battleships” as part of the “Golden Fleet” effort, President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy...
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Golden Fleet
www.goldenfleet.navy.mil
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