US President Donald Trump announces the US Navy’s new “Golden Fleet” initiative, unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 22, 2025. Photo: VCG

The US on Monday announced its plan to build a new class of battleships that is allegedly even larger than their World War II-era predecessors – but equipped with missiles. A Chinese expert noted that the US’ new battleships are of a new genre of warship, but remained skeptical about their feasibility in modern naval warfare given their huge size.

US President Donald Trump has announced a plan for the US Navy to build a new, large warship that he is calling a “battleship” as part of a larger vision to create a “Golden Fleet.” “They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump claimed during the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the AP reported.

Citing Trump, the AP reported that the ship, the first of which will be named the USS Defiant, will be longer and larger than the World War II-era Iowa-class battleships and will be armed with hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, rail guns, and high-powered lasers – all technologies that are in various stages of development by the Navy.

The new battleships would be called the Trump-class, and Trump claimed that the project would eventually be expanded to encompass 20 to 25 new vessels, according to a Reuters report.

In addition to the new battleship class, the Golden Fleet envisions an increase in the number of other types of war vessels, including a smaller, more nimble frigate class previously announced by the US Navy, Trump claimed, per Reuters.

Trump also claimed that the US Navy is working on "three large aircraft carriers," "12 to 15 brand new submarines" and fixing up Navy sites where sailors live, ABC News reported.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that battleship used to be a ship genre characterized by large caliber naval guns, and these vessels have been decommissioned gradually after the World War II. The new battleship announced by the US is equipped with missiles, making the design actually a new genre of warship.

Battleship was at the height of prominence during World War II, and the largest of the US battleships, the Iowa-class, were roughly 60,000 tons. But after World War II, the battleship’s role in modern fleets diminished rapidly in favor of aircraft carriers and long-range missiles. The US Navy did modernize four Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s by adding cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles, along with modern radars, but by the 1990s all four were decommissioned, according to the AP report.

According to a newly created website for the “Golden Fleet,” this new “guided missile battleship” is set to be roughly the same size as Iowa-class battleships but only weigh about half as much, around 35,000 tons, and have far smaller crews – between 650 and 850 sailors, AP reported, noting that its primary weapons will also be missiles, not large naval guns.

However, Zhang said that the large size of a battleship also makes it more vulnerable and potentially an easier target, particularly when it is densely loaded with munitions.

The US’ battleship plan has also been questioned by US media. A report by US-based defense media outlet the War Zone questioned if Trump’s call for putting battleships back in the Navy’s fleet even feasible. No country in the world is currently building new warships of a size and with a configuration in line with traditional battleships. Any attempt to do so in the United States would be very costly and manpower intensive, the report said.

Meanwhile, the AP report noted that the announcement comes just a month after the US Navy scrapped its plans to build a new, small warship, citing growing delays and cost overruns, deciding instead to go with a modified version of a Coast Guard cutter that was being produced until recently. The sea service has also failed to build its other newly designed ships, like the new Ford-class aircraft carrier and Columbia-class submarines, on time and on budget. The Navy has also struggled to field some of the technologies Trump claims will be aboard the new ship.

Zhang noted that the US’ shipbuilding capability is seemingly on a decline, which could further cast a shadow on the prospect of the new battleship. “Announcing such a project could aim to revive the shipbuilding industry, but we must wait and see if it can succeed,” the expert said.