US Navy to build new vessel as part of “Golden Fleet” revival plan
Jen Judson And Courtney Subramanian
Washington: The U.S. Navy will build a new “Trump-class” warship as part of the White House’s efforts to modernize the service’s surface fleet and revitalize domestic shipbuilding.
A poster displayed at President Donald Trump’s gilded Mar-a-Lago mansion at the event featured an artist’s rendering of a sleek-looking warship called the USS Defiant, with a laser beam from its deck cutting through choppy waters and smoke billowing from a target in the background.
Next to the ship was a photo of Trump raising his fist in the air, a close replica of the defiant pose he struck minutes after surviving an assassination attempt in 2024. Another poster shows an image of the ship sailing next to the Statue of Liberty.
“We desperately need ships,” Trump said. “Some have grown old, tired and obsolete; we will go in the opposite direction.”
The Navy is also seeking a new frigate based on the Legend-class cutter and wants to support a surface combatant fleet one-third the size of the service requirement, according to a Dec. 19 announcement. The ship, called FF(X), will be built by Newport News, Virginia-based HII, whose Legend-class cutter will form the basis of the new ship.
The new ships are part of Trump’s “Golden Fleet” initiative to revive U.S. shipbuilding and address shortages of small ships that have emerged in recent military operations around the world.
Overhauling shipping has been a top defense priority, with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth saying contractors must accelerate the development of new weapons systems or lose government contracts.
Trump had already committed himself to another new weapons system, the F-47 stealth system, an indication of his place as the 47th president. He also named newly appointed Donald J. Trump, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
The state of the US shipbuilding industry is significantly behind China’s production rate, and the Trump administration is prioritizing investment in the shipbuilding industry to narrow the production gap. Trump created a new Office of Shipbuilding this year with plans for tax incentives to attract companies to the United States.
The Oval Office announcement amounts to this: “The Navy is trying to capitalize on the administration’s excitement about shipbuilding and say, ‘Okay, you want to build ships, let’s find new ships to build because if you’ve got the money and the energy, let’s apply that to what the Navy needs.'” Bryan Clark, a senior researcher at the Hudson Institute, said in an interview.
The cruiser will replace the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which have a service life of nearly four decades and are equipped with Aegis Combat Systems that provide missile defense capability.
The Trump administration’s first attempt to build a new frigate during the president’s previous term resulted in a schedule that was significantly delayed and over-budget.
The original plan was to build 20 ships to start, using a foreign design from Trieste, Italy-based Fincantieri, whose Wisconsin-based subsidiary was contracted to build the frigates. To adapt the design to meet US military standards, the cost of the ship increased, and the increased complexity led to delays in production.
Bloomberg
Get notes directly from abroad reporters about things that make headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.
