New NAVY ships ?

[Tisto]

President Trump has declared that America would once again build battleships. Currently, the only US battleship that has not been decomissioned is the USS ARIZONA which is underwater in Pearl Harbor.

America's NAVY is without question, the very best naval force in the world, hands down. The next best naval force is lightyears behind us.

The announcement of the new class of ships leads me to ask some rather basic questions. What exactly is the purpose of these ships ? Unless they are merely a mobile platform for UAV forces, what are they ? Drone warfare and cyber warfare are clearly the method of future warfare. The days of destroyers packing dozens of 16" guns is gone. Naval force today is ruled by aircraft carriers and submarines. Aircraft carriers made battleships obsolete. Jets have a much further range, and much higher hit rate than the 16"guns of yesteryear, all while keeping the carrier group safely out of range.

So ? What are they ? What is their mission ? What role are they to play in our naval fleet ?

I applaud the idea of renewing our NAVY as well as USCG fleets, especially using American technology, American steel, American components, and American labor. All of that is a good thing. I just don't quite understand the purpose yet. Perhaps more information will come out soon that will get me to fully embrace the plan, but right now I just ask WHY ?

 

[Bigfoot]

What We Know About The Trump Class “Battleship”​

What We Know About The Trump Class "Battleship"

The USS Defiant would be the first Trump class battleship, but major questions remain about affordability and logic of such a massive design.

www.twz.com

"President Donald Trump has rolled out plans for new Trump class large surface combatants for the U.S. Navy. These are to be armed with a wide array of missiles, including nuclear-armed and hypersonic types, as well as electromagnetic railguns, laser directed energy weapons, and more."

“As we forge the future of our Navy’s Fleet, we need a larger surface combatant and the Trump class Battleships meet that requirement,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle also said -"

 

[Tisto]

What We Know About The Trump Class “Battleship”​

What We Know About The Trump Class "Battleship"

The USS Defiant would be the first Trump class battleship, but major questions remain about affordability and logic of such a massive design.

www.twz.com

"President Donald Trump has rolled out plans for new Trump class large surface combatants for the U.S. Navy. These are to be armed with a wide array of missiles, including nuclear-armed and hypersonic types, as well as electromagnetic railguns, laser directed energy weapons, and more."

Not to argue, but the 1970's gave us the Ohio class ( Trident class ) submarine. Onboard, it carried 24 trident missiles, which it could deliver with impressive stealth. Submarines have improved vastly since then. So what does this new ship do that isn't already being done by a different vessel in the fleet ?

There is something to be said about the imposing sight of a fighting ship. There is an undeniable deterrant there.

 

[Bigfoot]

Not to argue, but the 1970's gave us the Ohio class ( Trident class ) submarine. Onboard, it carried 24 trident missiles, which it could deliver with impressive stealth. Submarines have improved vastly since then. So what does this new ship do that isn't already being done by a different vessel in the fleet ?

There is something to be said about the imposing sight of a fighting ship. There is an undeniable deterrant there.

FWIW - AI Overview


The proposed Trump-class battleship does several things differently: it integrates new deep-strike weapons (hypersonics, lasers, railguns), adds a nuclear-armed cruise missile (SLCM-N) as a new deterrent leg, serves as a massive mobile command & control (C2) hub for fleet operations (including drones), and provides large-scale, organic power for these advanced systems, filling a gap for massive, multi-mission capital ships not fully met by current carriers or destroyers, as a centerpiece of the new "Golden Fleet".

 

[Bigfoot]

AI Overview - Railgun



A railgun is an advanced weapon that uses powerful electromagnetic forces, not chemical explosives, to launch projectiles at extremely high speeds (hypersonic) for long-range, high-impact strikes, relying on kinetic energy rather than warheads for destructive power, and it works by passing a massive electric current through parallel rails, creating a magnetic field that propels a conductive projectile (armature).

How it works

• Components:
  Two parallel conductive rails and a conductive projectile (armature) that bridges the gap between them.
  
  
• • Current Flow:
    A huge electric current flows from the power source, up one rail, across the armature, and down the other rail, creating a strong magnetic field.
  • Lorentz Force:
    This magnetic field generates the Lorentz force, an electromagnetic force that pushes the armature forward along the rails at immense velocity.
  • Velocity:
    Higher current means a stronger magnetic field and faster projectile, allowing speeds far beyond conventional guns.

Key characteristics

• • No Explosives: Projectiles don't carry explosives, making them safer to store and offering a larger magazine capacity.
  • High Kinetic Energy: Damage comes from extreme speed and mass, enabling armor penetration.
  • Long Range & Precision: Achieves greater range and faster time-to-target than traditional artillery.

Challenges

• • Power Demand: Requires massive, rapidly rechargeable electrical power, a significant hurdle for naval integration.
  • Rail Erosion: High speeds cause intense friction and arcing, rapidly degrading the rails.
  • Cost & Complexity: Developing robust, long-lasting, and power-efficient systems is complex.

Applications

• • Military: Air and missile defense, anti-ship warfare, long-range bombardment, counter-battery fire, and potentially anti-satellite roles.
  • Space: Potential for cost-effective satellite launch.

 

[Bigfoot]

AI Overview - Laser directed energy weapon


A laser directed energy weapon (DEW) is a military system that uses a highly focused beam of light (laser) to damage, disable, or destroy targets like drones, rockets, and missiles, offering advantages like low cost-per-shot and deep magazines compared to traditional munitions. These high-energy lasers work by delivering intense optical energy to heat and melt materials, disrupting electronics, or causing physical destruction, with current applications focusing on countering asymmetric threats like swarms of drones and mortars.

How They Work

• Energy Conversion:
  Converts electrical or chemical energy into a coherent light beam (photons).
  
  
• • Focus & Aim:
    Uses advanced optics and beam directors to focus the energy precisely onto a small spot on the target.
  • Target Effects:
    Causes damage through heating, burning, melting materials, or disrupting sensors and guidance systems.
  • Precision & Speed:
    Offers near-instantaneous, speed-of-light engagement with pinpoint accuracy, notes G&H photonics.

Key Advantages

• • Cost-Effective: Significantly cheaper per shot (dollars vs. thousands/millions for missiles).
  • Deep Magazine: Offers a nearly limitless supply of "ammunition" (energy).
  • Versatility: Can engage threats like drones, mortars, and potentially missiles, and can be scaled for different effects (dazzling to destruction).

Types & Applications

• • Low-Power Lasers (Dazzlers): Temporarily blind optical sensors or human eyes (non-lethal).
  • High-Power Lasers (HELs): Physically damage or destroy targets, effective against drones, rockets, artillery, and mortars (C-UAS, C-RAM).
  • Platforms: Being developed for ground vehicles, ships, aircraft, and space.

Examples

• • DragonFire (UK): A high-energy laser system for layered air defense.
  • THOR (USAF): Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder for counter-drone missions.
  • HELIOS (US Navy): High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance.

Current Status

• • DEWs are moving from research to operational prototypes, with significant investment from the DoD for defense against asymmetric threats, reports U.S. GAO.

 

[spat]

Not to argue, but the 1970's gave us the Ohio class ( Trident class ) submarine. Onboard, it carried 24 trident missiles, which it could deliver with impressive stealth. Submarines have improved vastly since then. So what does this new ship do that isn't already being done by a different vessel in the fleet ?

There is something to be said about the imposing sight of a fighting ship. There is an undeniable deterrant there.

These are supposed to have a ton more electrical power available so they can run very hungry weapons systems, like actual, honest to God, laser turrets.

Which are ideal for taking out drone swarms. Infinite, practically free ammo, instant targeting, zero time of flight, super high precision, but low damage. That's perfect for taking out a drone swarm.

1000 incoming drones ? It can hit them all in a fraction of a second. Sure, it's only going to hit them with the equivalent power of a .22lr, but for drones that's enough.

Basically it sounds like a modernized and scaled up Burke. Those are the work horses of the current Navy. We have something like 70 of them.

Last time they tried to update and upscale the Burkes, they ended up with the fairly disappointing Zumwalts, but the basic idea is still sound.

Calling them "battleships" is probably a bit of a stretch, bit it sounds a lot cooler than the "guided missile cruiser" that they called the Zumwalts.

 

[VietnamEraVet]

When I was in the USN, I served aboard a guided heavy missle cruiser, the USS Chicago, CG-11, 7th Fleet flagship. An older WWII vintage ship that was retrofitted with Talos and other missle systems in the 1960’s. Carried a crew of about 1100 sailors. I understand these newer ships will require much smaller crew numbers.

Friends in the subs used to joke with us that we were “targets” that they used to practice sneaking up on. They used to say that our life expectancy in wartime would be pretty damn short! I had an uncle who survived the sinking of the USS Wasp aircraft carrier by a Japanese sub in 1942. Today’s subs are a hell of a lot more lethal.