Trump Wants to Build Battleships, but Congress Imposes Limits: Prove the Weapon Systems Are Reliable First

Trump's long-cherished battleship project seems to have hit a minor "obstacle."

On the 27th, the U.S. website "The War Zone" reported that the House Armed Services Committee has proposed a new requirement in the draft of the fiscal year 2027 Defense Authorization Act: unless the U.S. Navy can demonstrate that the key weapon systems of the Trump-class battleship have reached a "sufficiently mature technology readiness level," military contracts for construction will be prohibited.

The problem lies precisely here. The weapon systems under scrutiny by the House—electromagnetic railguns, high-energy laser directed-energy weapons with a capacity of around 300 kilowatts, and hypersonic missiles—are all, almost without exception, still far from fully developed or technologically mature and reliable.

For instance, the U.S. military’s electromagnetic railgun has been shelved after years of development due to technical challenges; hypersonic missiles are still in the testing phase; although high-energy laser weapons have some foundational progress, the power levels required for battleships far exceed those of current U.S. Navy operational models, making actual deployment still highly challenging.

If the U.S. military cannot provide solid evidence proving these weapons are sufficiently reliable, the entire project will be firmly blocked by Congress. Even more troubling for Trump is that this year the U.S. will hold midterm elections; should Democrats regain control of both chambers of Congress, his battleship dream may well come to an abrupt end.

Even if Congress ultimately approves the project, Trump won’t see the first ship completed before leaving office—according to the U.S. Navy’s plan, the first battleship won’t enter service until 2036, with a total cost reaching $17 billion, significantly exceeding the per-ship cost of the Ford-class aircraft carriers.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1866401490311180/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author