The U.S. Navy on Monday unveiled fresh details about its future Trump-class battleship program. For the first time, officials confirmed that the large warship will use nuclear power and act as a heavily armed command ship for future naval operations.

This information was included in the Navy’s new 30-year shipbuilding plan. The plan also describes major changes to the fleet, such as adding many autonomous ships, buying new submarines, and retiring older aircraft carriers and submarines.

The proposed battleship is expected to cost as much as $17.5 billion per vessel and will not replace the current Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. In December 2025, US President Donald Trump had announced the Navy’s intent to develop a new class of American-designed, 30,000 to 40,000-ton large surface combatants, or battleships.

The plan, released Monday, stated, “The nuclear-powered battleship is designed to provide the fleet with a significant increase in combat power by longer endurance, higher speed, and accommodating advanced weapon systems required for modern warfare.”

“Adding capability at the highest end of the high-low mix, the battleship’s primary role is to deliver high-volume, long-range offensive fires and serve as a robust, survivable forward command and control platform; it is not a destroyer replacement.”

New warship program takes shape

For months, naval analysts guessed that the BBG(X) battleship project would use nuclear power, especially after the Trump administration announced the plan in December. The Navy has now officially confirmed this.

Officials had previously connected the project to the DDG(X) program, which was meant to be the next large surface warship after the Arleigh Burke destroyers. However, the new shipbuilding proposal argues that the DDG(X) design involved compromises that the Navy no longer wanted to accept.

“Even the planned DDG(X) program made undesirable capability and weapon system compromises,” stated the 30-year proposal. “Our fleet deserves, and our national security requires the most comprehensive capability a surface combatant can provide, not just what we can make do with tradeoffs.”

Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds, the Navy’s deputy assistant secretary for budget, defended the battleship concept during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget rollout last month. “We’ve been pursuing a larger surface combatant for many years,” Reynolds told reporters. “I think we’ve invested over five years in DDG(X) large surface combatant.” Over the next three decades, the Navy plans to acquire 15 Trump-class battleships.

Autonomous fleet receives major funding push

The new plan also highlights the Navy’s increasing focus on medium unmanned surface vessels, or MUSVs. Congress recently approved over $5 billion through the Reconciliation Act to help buy these autonomous ships.

The MUSVs are designed to carry up to two standard 40-foot shipping containers and support several mission types. Instead of using the traditional acquisition process, the Navy plans to buy the vessels using “other transaction authority,” which allows faster procurement outside standard contracting procedures.

“This approach accelerates capability delivery by enabling rapid prototyping with a broad range of industry partners. To incentivize industry’s internal investment, payments will only be made for demonstrated operational success, with opportunities for non-competitive, follow-on production agreements,” the plan noted. “The government will not fund bespoke prototype design or fabrication.” The Navy expects to purchase 36 MUSVs this year alone.

Older carriers and submarines face retirement

The long-term plan also calls for many ships to be retired. In the next five years, the Navy plans to retire three guided-missile submarines, four ballistic missile submarines, and two aircraft carriers. Among the vessels scheduled for retirement are USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in Fiscal Year 2027 and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in Fiscal Year 2030. 

The Navy also plans to recycle USS Ohio (SSGN-726), USS Florida (SSGN-728), USS Michigan (SSGN-727), and several other Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines that are almost at the end of their service. USS Connecticut (SSN-22), a Seawolf-class submarine damaged in 2021 after hitting an underwater mountain in the South China Sea, is also set for recycling in Fiscal Year 2031.

Meanwhile, the Navy expects to continue buying two attack submarines annually and plans to procure two destroyers per year beginning in Fiscal Year 2030. “We must increase productivity and reduce the backlog to meet our objective of a production rate of at least two per year,” the plan stated.