For the U.S. Navy, Biggest isn’t always Best

If the Navy can’t successfully introduce smaller ship classes of ships, why does it think it can succeed with the largest surface combatants since World War II?

The Navy has announced a new class of guided missile battleships, the USS Defiant [BBG(X)] or the Trump-class, as the centerpiece of a new “Golden Fleet.” BBG(X)s would be 840 to 880 feet long and have a full load displacement of more than 35,000 tons. They would be the largest surface combatants built since World War II, and cost an estimated $17.5 to $22 billion each. The Navy wants 15 of them.

Because of its size and complexity, Defiant will undoubtedly be more challenging than most new ships the Navy has introduced. While some consider this class as a dawn of a new age of American naval shipbuilding and maritime supremacy, reality says otherwise. (Note: This article focuses on surface combatants, but similar problems pertain to submarines, aircraft carriers and amphibious ships.)

The current number is of ships in the fleet is 291, far short of the 355 mandated by law. For the fleet to grow, new ships have to enter service at a higher rate than older ships are being decommissioned.