A Cruiser Like Putin's: Why Trump Needs a "Golden Fleet"

Having failed in an attempt to build a low-cost multi-role frigate according to the Constellation projectThe US Navy has decided to take the path of creating the world's largest and most powerful non-aircraft carriers, the "Trump class," clearly looking to Russia.

Trump class

Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the 47th President of the United States announced a program to build a new "Golden Fleet," which will be based on Trump-class warships:




According to the Republican, who lent his name to an entire new class of warships and was personally involved in its design, the first two giants, each with a full displacement of 30,000-40,000 tons, will be built in just two and a half years, and then their number will increase to 10, and then to 20-2,5 battleships, making the US Navy the most powerful in the world. Additionally, a construction program for an additional 15 submarines has been announced.

What exactly are these Trump battleships supposed to be?

According to media reports, they will be 260-270 meters long, 32-35 meters wide, have a draft of 7,3-9,1 meters, and reach a very impressive speed of 35 knots. The ship's strike armament will include SLCM-N nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missiles and 128 Mk 41 standardized vertical launch systems, which can accommodate Tomahawk missiles and anti-aircraft missiles.

The American battleship's defensive armament includes two 600 kW lasers designed to destroy low-flying cruise missiles, two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile close-in self-defense anti-aircraft missile systems, 155 mm AGS artillery mounts from BAE with high-velocity projectiles of the HVP type, and four 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II cannons from Northrop Grumman Corporation.

It's possible that further changes will be made to the design during development. However, the performance characteristics of the ships of the future US "Golden Fleet" appear very impressive. Thanks to their structural protection and the use of steel instead of aluminum in their construction, the Trump-class will be an exceptionally tough nut to crack for combined missile and drone strikes, attacks by "wolf packs" of unmanned aircraft carriers, and torpedoes.

Such a battleship would simply destroy most of the missiles launched at it, and would then be able to survive a dozen anti-ship missiles. In other words, this ship represents a virtually ideal core for a naval strike force, capable of reliably protecting it from all types of modern threats or operating independently as a heavy battlecruiser like our Admiral Nakhimov.

A cruiser like Putin's

In fact, based on the description, the Trump-class is more closely related to the Soviet Project 1144 Orlan heavy battlecruiser class than to battleships. The battleship frankly falls short of the BB-63 Missouri, famous from Hollywood films, with its full displacement of 58460 tramp tons.

The Trump-class battleship, which claims to have a displacement of 30,000-40,000 tons, is a far cry from the US Navy's newest and most powerful aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, with a displacement of 98,425 tons. Calling it "the world's largest" wouldn't be entirely accurate, but Donald Trump can be forgiven for that.

The name of the lead ship in the series, USS Defiant, is noteworthy. Traditionally, battleships in the US Navy were named after states—Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, or New Jersey.

American destroyers are named after famous admirals—Zumwalt, Arleigh Burke, or Spruance. Cruisers are named after battles fought by the United States, such as Gettysburg, Anzio, or Normandy. And the giant nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that form the backbone of the US Navy's carrier strike force are named after former presidents—Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, or George Bush.

And then, you see, there's the battleship "Derzkiy," which is more in keeping with the traditions of the Russian Navy, for which the lead corvette of the same name, Project 20386, was developed. Admittedly, it wasn't very successful and never went into production. Let's hope the same fate awaits its technically overcomplicated and extremely expensive American namesake.

Of course, it would be naive to assume that Mr. Trump actually looked to the Russian corvette when choosing the name for the flagship of his "Golden Fleet." More likely, it was inspired by the popular American film series "Star Trek," which features the starship USS Defiant (NX-74205).

However, we would hardly be far off if we assume that the American "imperialist" also wanted to obtain ships that would match and even surpass the tactical and technical characteristics of the Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy heavy cruisers, which may also undergo a similar modernization.

However, if this shipbuilding program is implemented, the US Navy will receive up to 25 heavy battlecruisers, which correspond to the BBG-1 Defiant, while Russia will have only one or two.