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World
The Pentagon has officially confirmed that the new 17.5-billion-dollar Trump-class battleship will be nuclear-powered, according to the 2026 shipbuilding plan.
The United States Navy has formally acknowledged for the first time that its next-generation battleship, the Trump-class, will be nuclear-powered. The confirmation came through the service's 2026 shipbuilding plan, as reported by USNI News, ending years of unofficial speculation about the vessel's propulsion system.
With a price tag of $17.5 billion, the new warship is designed to dramatically enhance the fleet's firepower. The Navy's plan states that the nuclear-powered battleship will increase cruising range and speed, while also enabling the deployment of modern weapon systems essential for contemporary warfare.
The Navy has outlined that the Trump-class battleship must deliver sustained long-range bombardment and serve as a reliable, survivable advanced platform for command and control. The vessel will displace between 35,000 and 40,000 tons, making it roughly three times heavier than current destroyers.
Beyond its nuclear engine, the warship will be equipped with hypersonic missiles, an electromagnetic railgun, laser weapons, and 128 multi-mission launch cells capable of firing various missile types. The Pentagon plans to acquire 15 of these battleships over the next three decades.
Despite the ambitious specifications, many experts have expressed doubts about the program's feasibility. Concerns center on the overcrowding of American shipyards and the lack of recent experience in building nuclear-powered surface vessels of this size.
The Trump-class is expected to be the largest and most expensive warship in the history of the U.S. fleet, a fact that has already generated internal tensions within the Pentagon over resource allocation and production timelines.
