February 25, 2026: The American Commander in Chief recently called for the construction of new Defiant class BBGs, or battleships armed with missiles. These would be 35,000-ton, 260 meter long vessels with a top speed of 55 kilometers, crew of 700 and armed with 12 cells containing Conventional Prompt Strike Ballistic missiles that can hit a target anywhere in the word within an hour. Another 128 VLS cells would carry anti-ship, land attack and other missiles similar to what current Burke Class destroyers carry. For air and close in defense there would be two Rolling Airframe launchers. There will be two 127mm guns and four 30mm autocannon. There will be a flight deck aft with a hangar capable of holding two helicopters plus some drones. The first Defiant would cost nearly $20 billion while subsequent ones would cost $13 billion.

The last American conventional battleships armed with 406mm guns were the four 60,000 Iowa class. Four of these ships were built between 1940 and 1944. Each cost $1.5 billion in 2025 dollars. These vessels were 270 meters long, with a top speed of 61 kilometers an hour and a range of 27,000 kilometers at 28 kilometers an hour cruising speed. The ship carried a crew of 2,700 and was armed with nine 406mm cannon, twenty 127mm guns, 80 40mm and 49 20mm anti-aircraft guns. The large guns had a range of 43 kilometers. Electronics include air and surface search radars as well as a fire control radar. Belt armor for the four Iowa’s were 307mm to 368mm depending on the ship. Turrets, conning tower and decks were also armored. Aircraft consisted of three float planes.

The four Iowa’s were decommissioned after World War II and then brought back several times. USS Iowa was decommissioned in 1949, brought back 1951-88 and finally in 1984-90. For New Jersey it was 1948, 1950-57, 1968-69 and 1982-91. For Missouri it was 1955, and 1986-92. For Wisconsin it was 1948, 1951-58, and 1988-91. When returned to service after World War II, the Iowa’s received upgrades consisting of missile launchers, improved electronics and helicopters/drones instead of floatplanes.

Another aspect of all this is how, since World War II, the descriptions given to warships have evolved. Warships called destroyers appeared a century ago and by the end of World War I they were ships of about 1,000 tons armed with a few guns and some torpedoes and depth charges. By World War II, destroyers had grown to about 3,000 tons. There were also cruisers, weighing in at between 6,000 and 12,000 tons, and battleships, which were 30-60,000 tons. Half a century later, all that's left for surface warfare are destroyers and frigates. For whatever reason, the modern frigates perform the same mission and are about the same size as the World War II destroyers. Meanwhile, the modern destroyers have grown to the size of World War II cruisers. Actually, some of the larger destroyers are called cruisers, even though they are only 10-20 percent heavier than the largest destroyers. The latest ships in the U.S. Navy's Burke class destroyers weigh 9,200 tons, cost $1.5 billion to build, have a crew of about 330 sailors, and carry 96 anti aircraft and cruise missiles. There's only one 5 inch gun, but two helicopters. These modern destroyers could take on any World War II cruiser and win, mainly because the cruise missiles have a range of 1,500 kilometers. A Burke class ship could probably defeat a World War II battleship, although we'll never know for sure since one of those heavily armored ships never got hit by a modern cruise missile. In effect, the U.S. Navy has settled on just four major combat ship types; aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and nuclear submarines.