Overview
- President Trump has proposed a heavily armed battleship concept with more than 120 VLS cells, hypersonic weapons, directed‑energy systems and a railgun, including 12 Conventional Prompt Strike tubes for globally ranging missiles that could be nuclear or conventional.
- The Pentagon’s latest China report identifies the DF‑27 hypersonic missile with a 5,000–8,000 km range as operational and describes the YJ‑20 as a sea‑launched hypersonic threat that pushes U.S. ships beyond the first island chain.
- Defense experts question whether a large surface combatant could survive in a modern anti‑ship environment, with Forbes warning of vulnerability to massed missile attacks and to improvised launch platforms such as converted Chinese container ships.
- Practical hurdles remain substantial, including the lack of current congressional funding, immature technologies like railguns, and U.S. shipbuilding shortfalls underscored by troubled recent classes and production delays.
- Forbes highlights escalation risks if the ship carries nuclear cruise missiles and urges shifting resources to submarines, unmanned systems, longer‑range missiles, allied shipyard production, and procurement reform.