US Navy’s $275 billion BBGN plan hinges on shipyard transformation
The USS Defiant, the lead vessel of the Trump-class, is to be equipped with a variety of weapons. (Photo: US Navy)
The US Navy’s planned nuclear-powered warship carries a US$275 billion price tag, but the greater story lies in the industrial overhaul needed to build it, from AI-enabled design to digital twins and modular construction.
The US Navy’s (USN) newest surface combatant, the Trump-class nuclear-powered guided missile ‘battleship’ (BBGN), has been billed as the most heavily armed warship the service will ever have built. The lead vessel, to be named USS Defiant, would carry a mix of anti-air, land-attack and antiship missiles, hypersonic conventional prompt strike weapons, nuclear cruise missiles, large lasers and a rail gun, according to a report published by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in August 2026.
The CBO estimated the lead ship would cost US$23.4 billion, with each of the following 14 vessels averaging $18 billion, taking the
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