Summary and Key Points: We compare the proposed Trump-class “USS Defiant” concept with the Iowa-class ships built for World War II.
-The Trump-class is framed as a missile-era platform—128 Mk 41 cells, potential hypersonics, and even railgun and laser ambitions—yet still burdened by cost, shipyard realities, and political risk after Donald Trump leaves office.
-The Iowa-class brings proven wartime durability and unmatched 16-inch gun firepower, but would struggle in today’s long-range missile environment. The comparison ultimately turns on survivability, integration with modern defenses, and whether ambition outpaces feasibility.
How Does the Trump-class Battleship Compare to the Iowa-class?
So it’s battleships you like? We at 19FortyFive will never leave you forsaken.
We have covered both the new proposed Trump-class battleship, the USS Defiant, and the vaunted Iowa-class battleship group that dominated World War II and other conflicts. Let’s see how both compare in a head-to-head matchup.
The Trump-class is still in planning, and its aspirational features are a newfangled wish list of “far out” specs that could change over time. Some analysts are already claiming that the USS Defiant may never be built. The Trump-class battleship could cost between $13 billion and $18 billion each, more than the USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier.
The New Geopolitics
Unlike World War Two, when the threat from Japan and Germany was clear, the Trump-class enters a different geopolitical environment. There are numerous enemies, rivals, and competitors. The United States is emphasizing the importance of the Western Hemisphere and is currently challenging and plotting against Venezuela, Cuba, and Greenland.
A Four-Pronged Threat
President Donald Trump’s national security team is continually trying to predict whether China will attack Taiwan and how to respond militarily if that contingency happens. China has more than 600 nuclear weapons and a larger number of ships than the United States.
Trump-Class Battleship Mockup Created with Nano Banana.
Trump-Class Battleship USS Defiant. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Trump-Class Battleship. Image Credit: Creative Commons/White House.
Iran is always a pesky problem, and Trump is considering a new set of air strikes against Tehran. North Korea has nuclear weapons and is constantly upgrading and testing ballistic missiles launched from land or from submarines.
Plus, technology has obviously changed. The Trump-class will likely feature directed-energy systems to protect against enemy aircraft and missiles. That is something a World War II-era sailor could never imagine.
Quick Proposed Specs of the Trump-class
The Trump-class of battleships will be 100 times more powerful than the Iowa-class.
The USS Defiant (BBG-1) will displace 35,000 to 40,000 tons and will be an impressive 840-foot-long guided-missile warship. This monster gunboat will have an astounding 128 Mark 41 Vertical Launching System cells. There are plans for a 32-megajoule electromagnetic railgun and enough room for 12 Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles. There will also be two 5-inch guns on board with a close-in weapons system for anti-missile duties.
World War Two Sailors Would Be Amazed
It would be difficult to explain to a World War Two sailor what a railgun or a hypersonic missile is.
To be sure, Iowa-class battleships were once outfitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles during the Reagan-era. But a hypersonic weapon would be something out of a science fiction novel, and I’m not even sure if any sci-fi author considered plus MACH 5-missiles in the early 20th century.
Therefore, Iowa-class sailors and Trump-class sailors would be completely different because of technological advancements. The Navy must now train individual sailors for years, not for weeks. The Trump-class naval personnel will be among the most sophisticated sailors in naval history. No World War Two sailor could even compete.
Can The Trump-class Take a Hit?
One aspect that the Trump-class and the Iowa-class have in common is survivability, or lack thereof. These ships could always be sunk by torpedoes and bombs from airplanes. The Trump-class will be well-armored, but can it take a punch?
Anchored off Piraeus, Greece, April 1946. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives.
Iowa-Class Battleship Sailing with the Fleet. Image Credit: U.S. Navy.
Iowa-Class Battleship Firing Guns. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The Iowa-class could have been sunk at any time. The four Iowa-class vessels – the Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin – were never sunk. The USS Iowa was once hit by a coastal gun and suffered minor damage, but in 1989, a blast in one of the gun turrets killed 47 shipmates. The Missouri was hit by a kamikaze aircraft, causing limited damage. The Wisconsin sustained bow damage after colliding with the USS Eaton in 1956.
The Trump-class May Have the Tactical Advantage
Could a Trump-class survive a war with China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea?
The USS Defiant would have to remain out of range of ballistic missiles, unless the Navy wanted to test the laser anti-aircraft and anti-missile system. The Trump-class would likely be sailing in a carrier battle group, so it would have added protection from the armada’s destroyers, frigates, and submarines. The Defiant would also be guarded by the P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare airplane.
The Enemy Can Blast Away at Any Type of Ship From Far-range
The Iowa-class had a strong combat record but never faced ship-killing missiles.
Today, a battleship would need to be integrated with the Aegis Weapon System and equipped with SM-3 and SM-6 missile interceptors. But the Iowa-class would still be better than the Trump-class at close air support and would have much more powerful 16-inch guns, rather than the 5-inch guns on the Trump-class.
Both classes of battleships would need to prioritize survivability over firepower.
The Trump-class assumes that sailors will be trained well on weapons systems that haven’t even been fully developed. The Iowa-class sailors were not as familiar with such advanced technology.
Could These Battleships Win the ‘Kinetic Missile Fight?’
The threat environment has changed greatly, and the Iowa-class group of battleships would probably not be able to survive what I call a “Kinetic Missile Fight.” Meanwhile, the Trump-class is likely too expensive and ambitious to be built in numbers.
However, the Iowa-class was successful and survivable with many combat exploits.
The Trump-class could also be a stalwart ship that projects power and carries the flag with distinction.
The price tag is high, and there may not be the kind of political will necessary after Trump leaves office to bring the USS Defiant to fruition, but if the Trump-class could be even half as successful as the Iowa-class, you could bring one amazing ship to the fleet.
About the Author: Brent M. Eastwood
Author of now over 3,000 articles on defense issues, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
