Golden fleet: President unveils 'Trump-class' battleships and new bigger aircraft carrier
US president Donald Trump has announced plans for a new Trump class of battleships, as he seeks to expand the US Navy in his own image.
He also said Washington is going to build a new class of aircraft carrier, which will allegedly be bigger than the current Gerald R Ford class.
Mr Trump said that the new warships would be larger, faster and "100 times more powerful" than any previously built, creating the centrepiece of what he called an expanded "Golden Fleet".
Mr Trump also piled more pressure on Washington's defence contractors over production delays and overspends.
The Golden Fleet will start off as just two warships, but it is likely to increase to between 20 and 25, Mr Trump said, with the first ship slated to be named USS Defiant.
The former Apprentice businessman said that he would like to be personally involved in the designs after he criticised the appearance of previous US warships.
The ships will weigh more than 30,000 tonnes and will be armed with the latest technology, such as artificial intelligence and directed energy lasers.
"We haven't built a battleship since 1994. These cutting-edge vessels will be some of the most lethal surface warfare ships… other than our submarines," Mr Trump said.
These new warships will also have nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missiles, according to US Navy secretary John Phelan.
The US president dismissed suggestions that these ships were being built to combat the Chinese threat as he said the boost in the navy was "a counter to everybody".
Overspends and delays
Alongside the announcement on warships, Mr Trump said he would put pressure on defence contractors to make production quicker and reduce costs.
He added that he will meet US major defence firms next week to look at the delays as he condemned executives' high pay for contributing to missed procurement targets.
"We don't want executives making $50m a year, issuing big dividends to everybody, and also doing buybacks," Mr Trump said.
The White House is reportedly planning an executive order to limit dividends, buybacks and executive pay for defence companies if their project goes over budget and is delayed.
Alongside the new 'Trump class' of warships, Mr Trump said he hoped for the introduction of a new, smaller class of frigates previously announced by the navy.
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