Summary and Key Points: The U.S. Navy is finalizing plans to buy the first Trump-class battleship in its 2027 budget — ensuring the new warship is purchased by 2028, before President Trump leaves office.

-Each Trump-class battleship will be armed with 128 Mk-41 Vertical Launch Systems firing SM-3, SM-6, and Tomahawk missiles, plus surface-fired hypersonic missiles, 600 kilowatt lasers, a 32-megajoule railgun, and deck-mounted 5-inch guns capable of firing precision-guided rounds.

-The class could grow to 15-25 ships if the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base can flex to meet demand. The U.S. Navy currently operates 75 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and only 8 or 9 cruisers — against a People's Liberation Army Navy fleet larger than America's.

The Trump-Class Battleship Will Have Some Serious Firepower 

Surface-fired hypersonic missiles, 600kw lasers, high-velocity rounds, and a 32 Megajoule Railgun are a few of the weapons systems expected to be built into the Trump-class battleships, a new class of warships intended to blend battleship firepower with destroyer-like weapons and a carrier and amphibious-like ability to launch helicopters and possibly even some fixed-wing aircraft. The U.S. Navy is now solidifying plans to "buy" the first Trump-class warship in the service's 2027 budget, ensuring the new boat will be purchased by 2028, before Trump leaves office.

The Trump-Class Battleship Is Coming, and This Is No Old-Iowa-Class 

It appears the new Trump-class "super-battleships" are moving forward, despite several news reports suggesting that Pentagon leaders most recently favored building larger numbers of smaller unmanned vessels rather than the new Trump-class.

Some reports even suggested that disagreement over the Trump battleships is part of the reason for the recent departure of the U.S. Navy Secretary.

Early conceptual renderings of the Trump-class have been placed on public display for many months now, and senior Navy leaders and weapons developers have detailed some of the weapons, concepts, and technologies being planned for the warships.

The emerging consensus involves a much more modern blending of attributes, including innovations planned for the service's DDG(X) next-generation destroyer program.

Massive Missile Firepower

The Trump-class will be armed with 128 Mk-41 Vertical Launch Systems, capable of firing SM-3s, SM-6s, and Tomahawk cruise missiles.