President Donald Trump and his national security team are whistling past the graveyard. In view is the future “Golden Fleet” of sparkling new battleships, but the gargantuan price tag is enough to make their hearts skip a beat.
The U.S. Navy, fresh off spending many billions on the USS Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers, is not done going to the well for more funds.
Trump-Class Battleship USS Defiant. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Trump-Class Battleship. Image Credit: Creative Commons/White House.
Trump-Class Battleship. Image Credit: Creative Commons/White House Photo.
This time it is for the Trump-class battleship that will break records for the most expensive ship the Navy has ever built.
What Is the Price Tag?
But that was just the initial estimate, according to a report produced by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The Golden Fleet with the Trump-class missile barge will cost 50 percent more than the Navy originally thought, CBO reckons.
The battleships will now likely set the Navy back $275 billion, which is more than a quarter of a trillion-dollar yearly defense budget.
USS Defiant Will Cost 34 Percent More Than Originally Estimated
Trump wants the first ship of his namesake line, the USS Defiant, to be built in the coming years to herald in a new dominant and lethal flotilla for the maritime branch.
This vessel will cost $23.4 billion, which is more than $8 billion over the original estimate.
The Total Budget for the 25 Trump-class Ships Is $455 Billion
Fourteen more Trump-class battleships are planned, with a price tag of more than $18 billion each.
The president had earlier claimed he wanted 20 to 25 ships for the Golden Fleet, with a cost of $455 billion.
Democrats on Capitol Hill are fighting mad.
“At a time when families are struggling to afford groceries, gas, health care, and child care, Congress cannot throw hundreds of billions of dollars at Trump’s ‘Golden Fleet,’ including plastering his name across a new battleship. Just like Trump’s ‘Golden Dome,’ the ‘Golden Fleet’ is expected to cost much more than previously estimated,” said Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon).
At Least Eight Years to Build the USS Defiant
That’s not all. The USS Defiant could take more than eight years to build, and that is if everything goes to plan.
Schedule slips for such an ambitious ship are almost certain, and it is not clear whether U.S. shipyards, which are suffering from worker shortages and the need to construct and maintain other ships, could deliver the Defiant on time and under budget.
USS Defiant Specs
The price has climbed for the Trump-class due to the decision to make the vessels nuclear-powered with A1B reactors instead of equipping them with conventional engines.
The Trump-class ships will also displace over 35,000 tons. If they become larger, even more money must be invested in the program.
The Trump-class will be able to steam at over 30 knots and have up to 850 sailors on board.
The new battleship is supposed to have 128 to 200 Mark 41 Vertical Launch System cells. These will fire Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles.
New nuclear-armed cruise missiles could also be launched. Armaments will consist of a 32 megajoule electromagnetic railgun and dual 5-inch guns.
The President Loves the Concept
Trump said in December that this could be one of the most dominant ships of all time. “They’ll help maintain American military supremacy, revive the American shipbuilding industry and inspire fear in America’s enemies all over the world,” the president explained.
Some Members of Congress Hate the Idea
The Trump-class will need more Congressional support, but Senator Merkley is ready to battle against it. “I will work with my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to reject moving forward with this wasteful project, and instead invest in programs that help families thrive,” he said.
Think Tankers Are Skeptical
Some naval experts are also suspicious of the USS Defiant and its sister ships. “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,” Mark Cancian, the senior analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in late December. “A future administration will cancel the program before the first ship hits the water.”
The Future Beyond Trump
The Trump-class would need buy-in from a new president, who could be a Democrat unlikely to support it.
The composition of both chambers of Congress could change after midterm elections in November.
Without a Republican majority on Capitol Hill, it doesn’t seem that the new battleships would have enough political support to be funded at such an extraordinary amount.
Let’s Not Be Too Hasty to Cancel the Program
I’m willing to give the Trump-class battleship and the Golden Fleet a chance to see how much can be developed in the next two years. The specs of the USS Defiant are certainly worth considering.
The Navy needs new ships, and these vessels will bring massive firepower and global deterrence when sailing with a carrier strike group.
But prices must come down. That may mean canceling some features, such as the railgun, or limiting the number of VLS cells. Also, it does not seem that the Navy and shipbuilders could build 20 Trump-class ships. That is definitely a bridge too far.
I would see only making three Trump-class ships at most, and that is if Congress is willing to fund the program beyond initial research and development.
Thus, this ambitious plan is unlikely to fully come to fruition.
The annual defense budget would have to approach $2 trillion to build the Golden Fleet, and there are too many other spending priorities the Department of Defense must consider in the future.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Author of now over 3,600 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.
