Built to impress, not to survive: What’s wrong with America’s ‘Golden Fleet’?

By the standards of modern naval history, President Donald Trump’s unveiled plan to build battleships for the US Navy was a genuinely extraordinary announcement. Battleships have not been built since World War II. The new American ships, Trump said, will feature record-breaking displacement and the most advanced weapons ever put to sea.

So here they are: Trump-class battleships for the US Navy, courtesy of President Trump. This is, of course, about more than simply immortalizing his name. The plan envisions the construction of 20 to 25 massive warships, each displacing roughly 30,000 to 40,000 tons. One suspects that the prestige of Russia’s heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov – Project 11442M – may have been keeping Trump awake at night. His answer is a ship even larger than the nuclear flagship of the Russian Navy.

Trump declared that the battleships will be “the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built.” 

“Each one of these will be the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world ever built,” he said

“We make the greatest equipment in the world, by far, nobody’s even close. But we don’t produce them fast enough,” President added.

The current plan is as follows: construction will begin with a lead ship named USS Defiant. A second ship will follow shortly thereafter. After an initial operational testing phase, an eight-ship production series is expected. Ultimately, the Navy hopes to bring the total number to 25 ships – or possibly even more.

Beyond their sheer size and numbers, these vessels are expected to set records for weapons density. Laser combat systems, railguns, multiple vertical launch systems loaded with hypersonic missiles, Standard Missile (SM) interceptors, and the newest generation of cruise missiles in both nuclear and conventional configurations – all of it, Trump wants aboard these ships. Many of these systems are still undergoing testing or remain in experimental stages.

That naturally raises an obvious question: how effective would such massive ships be in a modern war? A handful of hypersonic anti-ship missiles – extremely difficult to intercept – and the “pride of the nation” could be sent to the bottom. Billions of dollars would go up in smoke. In an era of space-based surveillance and advanced anti-ship weapons, the combat lifespan of such vessels could approach zero. In that case, these enormously expensive ships would be useful for little more than parades.

Trump, however, disagrees. He appears to believe that his “Golden Fleet” will be protected by a “Golden Shield” – a layered missile defense system with a space-based component capable of shielding these ships from hypersonic threats anywhere in the world’s oceans. Whether that will work remains unclear. But Trump seems willing to gamble. After all, if no war breaks out, the investment resembles a luxury Cadillac parked in the countryside: undeniably beautiful, unmistakably expensive – and possibly useless. Time will tell.

It is also worth noting that the Trump battleship program is only one piece of a much broader naval buildup. The United States is already building new ballistic missile submarines to replace the 14 Ohio-class nuclear submarines armed with Trident II missiles. Two Columbia-class submarines are currently under construction, with a total requirement of 12 boats. This program is a core – and high-priority – element of the US nuclear triad.

These submarines are designed to be exceptionally quiet and advanced. Each will carry 16 Trident II missiles of a new production batch, fewer than the Ohio class. Their deployment may eventually lead to a modest reduction in the sea-based nuclear arsenal, but after 2040, the US is likely to begin building an even more advanced generation of missile submarines.

At the same time, the Navy continues to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers – the largest and most expensive warships on the planet. Two new frigates are under construction, with plans for a large series of even more advanced frigates. Attack submarines are being built as well. Naval aviation is being modernized with fifth-generation F-35 carrier aircraft and loyal-wingman drones designed to handle much of the “dirty work” in future maritime combat. Several missile programs are also underway.

Taken together, these efforts represent colossal capital investment and account for a substantial share of the overall US defense budget. It increasingly appears that Trump is deliberately pushing toward a record, with future Pentagon budgets confidently crossing the trillion-dollar threshold. For the current administration, this does not seem particularly alarming – and for now, the United States can afford it.

Will the world react to Trump’s “Golden Fleet” initiative? Almost certainly. Military ambition is contagious. Turkey is building an aircraft carrier. France is constructing its first nuclear-powered carrier. The real question, however, is how Russia and China will respond.

Rash, emotional decisions in military procurement are not our path. Russia’s strength lies in hypersonic anti-ship systems, and that asymmetric advantage should continue to be developed. China, for its part, may pursue its own course, leveraging the fastest-growing shipbuilding industry in the world. But it is unlikely that Beijing will respond symmetrically to the American program. A response will come – but of a different kind. One designed to neutralize US naval dominance at sea, and at an acceptable cost.