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Key Points

Trump’s battleship plan clashes with decades of U.S. naval strategy and technology shifts

Experts described it as a “prestige project,” a “bomb magnet” and said that “this ship will never sail.”

Even if it were technically feasible, the cost of building the battleship would be prohibitive.

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[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

He really is Hitler brained.

Poor guy wants to see his name on everything and the biggest boat with biggest guns would be his favorite.

Goddamn his parents should have taken him to a psych hospital

[-] BetaBlake@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Now we just have to get him in a bunker with nowhere else to go

[-] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@piefed.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

And make memes with funny subtitles.

[-] lowspeedchase@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 2 weeks ago

Rule of law in this land now: "Trump-class" anything is coded for "kickback-funneling-class" - it's never going to exist for it's stated mission, only for the explicit mission of funneling money around.

[-] Soulphite@reddthat.com 11 points 2 weeks ago

Amazing isn't it? Trump is the epitome of failure, but only at the mercy of other people. You gotta hand it to the piece of shit, he is an incredible grifter. He's managed to convince an entire Top Three nation to let him do whatever the fuck he wants. He's getting away with unspeakable crimes; pedophilia, rape, possibly murder... etc. The world's worst human being running freely, in the most powerful position in the world, and a cult of personality. Just amazingly terrible.

[-] lowspeedchase@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 weeks ago

Yup, same as it's always been. I find solace in his big mad though:

  1. Wants to be beloved by all Americans; will never be loved by even half of Americans.
  2. Desperately wants to preserve his legacy; there is no future where his legacy isn't tarnished.
  3. Craves being the richest, most successful 'business' man in the world; every business launched ended in failure or prosecution.
  4. Tries to project emotional strength and fortitudinous; late-night comedians live rent free in what's left of his brain.
[-] whitecollarcry@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

the true enemy of all conservatives

[-] devolution@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

America is never recovering from this shit show.

[-] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 4 points 2 weeks ago

Very likely not quite, yeah. But honestly that's ok. The US was too important. We need a little less responsibility and a little less pull. We need a little humble dealt to us.

[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 0 points 2 weeks ago

Imagine thinking of the US's interference globally as responsibility

[-] qantravon@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

It's going to take, minimum, 10 years to build, right? And that's not counting any design, planning, and other ships that may be in progress at our shipyards. He's never going to see it. So let's just tell him we're building it, and not.

[-] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly, if I was some admiral trying to protect a bunch of R&D projects in development from Trump, I'd probably wrap as many of them as I could into a pitch for a big battleship with his name on it then spend the entire budget on the technologies that are supposedly going into the ship. Put basically no effort into the ship itself, just show him concept art and maybe send him a model or something to make him think progress is being made.

[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 2 points 2 weeks ago

What do ya reckon they are doing

[-] Ininewcrow@piefed.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

That is what they're going to do .... but in the meantime they'll send a shit ton of money his way for the project.

[-] Gladaed@feddit.org 3 points 2 weeks ago

Battleships cannot exist for there is no armor that can survive modern weapons. You cannot brawl it out against a bomb run and your weapons fire only 100km at best.

[-] Xaphanos@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

It is excellent for blasting away at a shoreline when you have absolute air and naval control. For reducing a defenseless region to rubble without using expensive (and anonymous) missiles or planes.

"And in today's news, the USS Trump has shelled the deserted remains of Caracas for the 3rd day running."

[-] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

It is excellent for blasting away at a shoreline when you have absolute air and naval control.

Even in the battleship era, they had better ships for shore bombardment called "monitors" (after the Civil War-era ships named after USS Monitor that looked similar even though that wasn't their purpose). A shallow-draft ship just large enough to hold a single battleship turret was a much more economical solution.

[-] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

If it does get made I hope it sinks faster than the Vasa

[-] AshMan85@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Like, the navy hasn't used battleships in decades because they are obsolete to deystroyers, that kind of obstacle?

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

really what we need are destroyer sized drone platforms anyways.

[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 2 points 2 weeks ago

With future weaponry they might see a come back

These extremely high powered laser weapons need large battery banks which seem to be usable as a power source for railguns too. Big boats might make sense, and with laser weapons mostly obsoleting air attacks they'd be a lot less of a sitting duck

[-] ATS1312@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You know Iran has AI torpedo drones, right? They're called Valfajr torpedos.

And more exotic ideas:

https://maritime-executive.com/article/iran-releases-footage-of-world-s-first-sub-launched-suicide-drone

Anyone actually paying attention to Iran will tell you that "bigger is better" Trump ideas are just giant floating "sink me" signs compared to fast, easy to produce swarms of smart explosives.

[-] ryannathans@aussie.zone 1 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah the next generation of serious combat will probably be significantly influenced by who has the best underwater capabilities, unless someone builds some kind of flying fortress for laser attacks and air denial

[-] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 1 points 2 weeks ago

Personally, I think a "battleship" designed solely for coastal bombardment duties would be the best fit for a modernized version. A Siege Ship, I guess? Provided the artillery shells are cheap, they can be constantly lobbed with great range and power at stationary targets. This would free up expensive missiles and aircraft for tasks beyond the reach or accuracy of the artillery.

[-] DrFistington@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

How could a large incredibly expensive slow moving warship that's really easy to locate and follow possibly be a bad idea? It's not like you can quickly, cheaply, and easily cram a bunch of explosives in a few unnamed submersibles and sink those ships for a fraction of the cost, right?

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Vasa (previously Wasa) (Swedish pronunciation: [²vɑːsa] ⓘ) is a Swedish warship built between 1626 and 1628. The ship sank after sailing roughly 1,300 m (1,400 yd) into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628.

[...]

The ship was built on the orders of the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus as part of the military expansion he initiated in a war with Poland-Lithuania (1621–1629). It was constructed at the navy yard in Stockholm under a contract with private entrepreneurs in 1626–1627 and armed primarily with bronze cannons cast in Stockholm specifically for the ship. Richly decorated as a symbol of the king's ambitions for Sweden and himself, upon completion she was one of the most powerfully armed vessels in the world. However, Vasa was dangerously unstable, with too much weight in the upper structure of the hull. Despite this lack of stability, she was ordered to sea and sank only a few minutes after encountering a wind stronger than a breeze.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

fuktig mejmej

This is all I can think about.

[-] negativenull@piefed.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Remember the ~~Alamo~~ Yamato!

[-] mushroommunk@lemmy.today 0 points 2 weeks ago

Okay but what does a really good space anime have to do with Trump's delusions?

Wait actually I can kind of see it.

[-] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

In case you're not kidding, it was a real battleship - practically useless due to it's size and cost, it only fired it's main guns in one engagement (and it's only arguable that they did anything) and spent the rest of the war as a command ship or scuttling between ports attempting to hide from enemy aircraft. It was ultimately sunk on it's way to a suicide mission by allied bombers.

[-] mushroommunk@lemmy.today 0 points 2 weeks ago

I knew there was a real ship but I had no idea how useless it actually was.

[-] BenLeMan@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Better yet, there were two ships in the class. Yamato's sister ship, Musashi suffered a very similar fate, though.

[-] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I bet if Trump stays in power long enough he will inevitably demand that it is painted gold.

[-] etherphon@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Key Points: Never stopped him before.

[-] redlemace@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Every word makes sense but ...... It does not matter. It needs to be big, it must have (the illusion) of impressive and it has to carry his name.

[-] 800XL@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Such an insecure little boy that late 70s man is.

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

i'm just surprised he hasn't started building his ~~washington~~ krasnov monument [below] that is right next to washington's girthy stately vigorous phallic protrusion.

[-] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Literally the only thing this has going for it is how much of the world would be united in support of watching the USS Donnie Dotard sink into the ocean depths where it is crushed beyond all recognition.

[-] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 2 weeks ago

This thing is getting a proper announcement on Monday, right?

I'm actually really curious to see what the Navy thinks the role and function of a modern battleship should be.

Especially with the designs coming out of China focusing on missile and especially drone launching capabilities, I wonder if ONR will go the same way or if they have a different vision for the future of capital warships.

The article mentions the Navy saying it wants to focus on distributing naval assets across many smaller vessels, and that seems far more sound in an era where an autonomous naval drone can pack enough punch to take down a massive vessel and can be launched in swarms. I'm not sure what the value of massive vessels are in a world where that exists. Would it be capable of launching its own drone fleet of screening ships? Is it a massive EWAR platform? Does it even have guns? I dunno. I wanna see though.

[-] Sciaphobia@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I'm actually really curious to see what the Navy thinks the role and function of a modern battleship should be.

A coral reef, probably. There's a reason battleships aren't made anymore. Moron might as well be boasting were going to make the biggest bestest most bigliest Ironclads the world has ever seen.

[-] Triumph@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago

You know he just decided that "we should have battleships" because he doesn't know why we don't, and if he doesn't know why, then there must be no reason.

this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2025
52 points (98.1% liked)

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