politics
Trump-class battleships would help China turn the Pacific into an American graveyard
President Donald Trump’s impulse is to believe that bigger is always better. Still, U.S. military procurement must be laser-focused on the extraordinary challenge of deterring and, if necessary, defeating China in a major war.
TL;DR
- The Trump-class battleship proposal is criticized for its high cost, with the first ship estimated at $23.4 billion and subsequent ships at $18 billion.
- Four DDG(X) destroyers could be built for the cost of one Trump-class battleship, offering more missile cells and hypersonic weapon cells.
- The battleships would be highly vulnerable to Chinese saturation attacks and advanced weapons like the YJ-20 hypersonic missile.
- Focusing on large battleships undermines the Navy's priority of building more attack submarines and developing unmanned drone capabilities.
- The design is seen as ego-driven rather than militarily necessary for deterring or defeating China in a major war.