The following is the Dec. 30, 2025, Congressional Research Service report, Navy Guided Missile Battleship (BBG[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. The full report can be accessed through the US Naval Institute site here.
From the report
On December 22, 2025, the Trump Administration announced a proposed program to build a new class of guided missile battleships (BBG[X]s) for the Navy. BBG(X)s would be the first battleships procured by the Navy since World War II, and would be larger and more heavily armed than any cruiser or destroyer procured by the Navy since World War II. The first BBG(X) would reportedly be procured in the early 2030s. An issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Trump administration’s proposal for building BBG(X)s.
Background
Terminology
In the designation BBG(X), BB means battleship, G means guided missile ship (i.e., a ship with a medium- or long-range air defense system), and (X) means the design of the ship has not yet been fully developed. Battleships are generally larger than cruisers and destroyers, which in turn are generally larger than frigates and corvettes (aka light frigates), which in turn are generally larger than patrol craft. The term surface combatant generally refers to all these ship types, and is sometimes defined to include aircraft carriers as well.
Program Overview
The BBG(X) program would comprise two initial ships, with a potential eventual class total of 20 to 25 ships. BBG(X)s would be a centerpiece of the Golden Fleet plan, a forthcoming Navy ship force-structure plan that is to replace the Navy’s current 381-ship force-structure plan. The Navy on December 22, 2025, posted notices of two intended contract awards for design work on the BBG(X). The contracts have estimated periods of performance of 72 months (i.e., six years), which appears consistent with procuring the first BBG(X) in the early 2030s. Since each BBG(X) would each require several years to build, the first BBG(X), if procured in the early 2030s, would likely enter service in the late 2030s or around 2040. The Trump Administration intends for the first BBG(X) to be named Defiant, and for the class to be called the Defiant class (following the Navy’s class-naming convention) or the Trump class.
The Navy states that BBG(X)s would have a length of 840 feet to 880 feet and a full load displacement of more than 35,000 tons. By comparison:
- The most recent battleships built for the Navy—the four Iowa (BB-61) class battleships, which were built in World War II and incorporated large amounts of very thick and heavy armor plating—had a length of 887 feet and a full load displacement of about 57,000 tons.
- The Navy currently operates a few Ticonderoga (CG-47) class cruisers (567 feet, 10,150 tons), several dozen Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyers (510 feet, 9,700 tons) and three Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyers (610 feet, 16,000 tons). (For more on the DDG-51 and DDG-1000 programs, see CRS Report RL32109, Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O’Rourke.)
- The Navy has a program to develop and acquire a class of next-generation destroyers called DDG(X)s as the successor to the DDG-51 destroyer. The DDG(X)’s estimated full load displacement is about 14,500 tons, and the first DDG(X) is to be procured in the early 2030s. (For more on the DDG(X) program, see CRS In Focus IF11679, Navy DDG(X) Next-Generation Destroyer Program: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O’Rourke.) Some press reports have stated that the Navy intends to replace the DDG(X) program with the BBG(X) program.
