Trump-class battleships should not be built until weapons technology is ready, lawmakers say
Trump-class battleships should not be built until weapons technology is ready, lawmakers say
Publish Date: 2026-05-29 16:55:00
Source Domain: www.navytimes.com
Congressional Republicans and Democrats included a short provision in proposed defense legislation on Tuesday that provides more clarification on what is needed for the construction of Trump-class battleships.
Lawmakers in the House Armed Services Committee announced their $1.15 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, stipulating that the new battleship built in the president’s name will not begin construction until the munitions packages onboard are sound enough to deploy.
The NDAA provides a foundational sum of money for the Trump administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 Defense Department budget.
“The Secretary of the Navy may not enter into a contract or other agreement that includes a scope of work for the construction of the lead ship of the battleship program until the date on which the secretary certifies to the congressional defense committees that the weapon systems planned for inclusion in such lead ship are at a sufficiently mature technology readiness level,” the document says.
The battleship will include a bevy of complex weapons systems, including hypersonic missiles, electromagnetic railguns and high-powered lasers, President Donald Trump announced in December 2025.
The Navy’s hypersonic missile program is currently in its testing phase, as the service intends to field the weapon across sea-based platforms in the future.
The service successfully launched a common hypersonic missile, which can top Mach 5 speeds, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on March 26, in coordination with the U.S. Army.
Navy officials said in 2024 that the service planned to begin testing the Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missile system aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt in 2027 or 2028.
Construction on the first $17 billion Trump-class battleship is slated to begin in 2028, with delivery scheduled for the 2030s, according to Navy budget estimates.
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