05/29/2026
To get more missiles and advanced technology like lasers and rail guns out to sea, the Navy wants to see 15 Trump-class “battleships” built over the next 30 years.
The BBG(X), as it is listed in the Navy’s new 2026 shipbuilding plan, would be a nuclear-powered surface combatant built around long-range fires, command and control, and future weapons that current surface vessels like destroyers may not have the space or power to support. The plan shows 15 BBG(X) purchases across its 30-year procurement profile, getting started with three between fiscal years 2027 and 2031 at a cost of $43.5 billion, or $14.5 billion per hull.
This is just a proposal, and a lot has to happen — congressional approval, shipyard capacity, weapons development — to make even a single BBG(X) a reality.
Even as a proposal, the plan for these battleships suggests that at least some in the Navy think the surface fleet needs something bigger and more heavily armed than today’s destroyers.
