U.S. Navy’s New $17.5 Billion Trump-Class Battleship To Be Nuclear-Powered

The United States Navy has confirmed that its future Trump-class battleships will be nuclear-powered under the service’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan.

The proposal, released on Monday, formally acknowledged for the first time that the planned Trump-class battleships, referred to as BBGNs in the document, will use nuclear propulsion instead of conventional power systems.

Naval observers had been discussing the possibility for months, although senior Navy officials had previously suggested that a nuclear-powered design was unlikely.

According to the shipbuilding plan, the new battleships are designed to give the fleet greater combat capability through longer endurance, higher speed and the ability to support advanced weapon systems needed for modern warfare.

The Navy said the Trump-class ships are meant to deliver large volumes of long-range offensive firepower while also serving as survivable forward command-and-control platforms.

The service also clarified that the new battleships are not intended to replace the existing Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.

Since the Trump administration announced the programme in December, Navy officials have often linked the new ships to the earlier DDG(X) programme, which had originally been planned as the next-generation destroyer after the Arleigh Burke class.

Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, said last month during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget rollout that the Navy had spent more than five years developing the DDG(X) large surface combatant concept.

Reynolds also rejected claims that the battleship programme was not a Navy requirement.

The latest shipbuilding proposal said the DDG(X) programme would have required compromises in capability and weapons systems.

The Navy stated that the fleet required a surface combatant with the most complete capability possible instead of accepting operational trade-offs.

Under the plan, the Navy intends to acquire 15 Trump-class battleships between Fiscal Year 2028 and 2055.

Two ships are expected to be ordered in consecutive years during Fiscal Years 2030 and 2031.

Initial estimates place the cost of each ship at around $17 billion. That would make the battleships more expensive than the next three planned Ford-class aircraft carriers, which are expected to cost between $13 billion and $15 billion each.

The Navy said the ships will carry large vertical launch system arrays capable of firing conventional and nuclear missiles, including hypersonic weapons.

The planned arsenal also includes an electromagnetic railgun, two 5-inch naval guns, laser-directed energy systems and additional close-in defence systems.

According to the proposal, the ships’ larger power generation capacity will support electronic warfare operations and high-output laser systems intended to reduce dependence on costly single-use munitions.

The Navy also said the ships will have enough internal space to carry a fleet command staff, allowing them to function as mobile maritime operations centres.

The battleships will be able to lead Surface Action Groups, operate alongside Carrier Strike Groups or carry out missions independently.

The Navy has previously stated that each Trump-class battleship will displace about 35,000 tonnes, roughly three times larger than the latest Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers.

The ships are expected to measure between 840 and 880 feet in length, have a beam between 105 and 115 feet and reach speeds above 30 knots.

The announcement is a major shift from comments made by former Navy Secretary John Phelan during the Navy League’s Sea Air Space 2026 exhibition in April.

At that time, Phelan said a nuclear-powered version of the Trump-class battleship was possible but unlikely. He said the Navy was still studying the trade-offs linked to the design and costs.

The Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal released last month had also described the ships as conventionally powered vessels using diesel generators, gas turbines and propulsion motors.

Phelan was removed from his position one day after those remarks. Veteran Navy officer Hung Cao later became Acting Secretary of the Navy.

President Donald Trump later told reporters that disagreements related to shipbuilding plans had caused friction within the administration.

The shipbuilding plan also provided new details about the Navy’s medium unmanned surface vessel programme.

The Navy received more than $5 billion through the Reconciliation Act to procure the autonomous ships, which are designed to carry up to two 40-foot shipping containers for different missions.

Instead of pursuing a traditional acquisition programme, the Navy plans to procure the vessels using “other transaction authority”, allowing purchases outside standard federal contracting processes.

According to the proposal, industry partners will only receive payments after demonstrating operational success, while the government ould not pay for custom prototype development or fabrication.

The Navy plans to acquire 36 medium unmanned surface vessels this fiscal year.

The proposal also outlined several major decommissionings planned over the next decade.

Within the next five years, the Navy plans to retire three of its four guided-missile submarines, four ballistic missile submarines and two aircraft carriers.

The Ohio-class submarines and Nimitz-class carriers scheduled for retirement will have either reached or exceeded their expected service lives.

In Fiscal Year 2027, the Navy plans to recycle USS Ohio (SSGN-726) and USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730), while dismantling USS Nimitz (CVN-68).

The Navy also plans to recycle USS Boise (SSN-764), ending a repair process that reportedly cost the service $1.6 billion after the submarine spent more than a decade waiting for an overhaul.

USS Florida (SSGN-728) and USS Alabama (SSBN-731) are scheduled for recycling in Fiscal Year 2028, while USS Michigan (SSGN-727) is planned for retirement in Fiscal Year 2029.

In Fiscal Year 2030, the Navy plans to recycle USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and USS Nevada (SSBN-733). USS Tennessee (SSBN-734) and USS Connecticut (SSN-22) are scheduled for retirement in Fiscal Year 2031.

USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class submarine damaged after striking an uncharted seamount in the South China Sea in 2021, will retire one year before reaching its projected 33-year service life.

The Navy also plans to begin retiring its first Arleigh Burke-class destroyers from 2030, starting with USS Russell (DDG-59) and USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62).

At the same time, the Navy plans to continue buying new aircraft carriers on four-year construction cycles over the next three decades.

The proposal said the Navy is reviewing the CVN-82 carrier design to improve lethality, survivability and producibility while simplifying the design and potentially reducing costs.

References: USNI News, TWZ