Chinese analysts warn US Trump-class warships could become vulnerable super-targets

Chinese military experts, writing in the People’s Liberation Army’s newspaper, assess that the United States’ Trump-class nuclear-propelled warships, unveiled by Donald Trump, are financially burdensome and technologically precarious. They point out that although a large hull may endure communication disruptions better than smaller vessels, its sheer size turns it into a high-value target for enemy submarines, anti-ship missiles, hypersonic weapons and drone swarms.

The analysts warn that attempts to mount cutting-edge technologies like laser weapons, hypersonic missiles or railguns on a still-immature platform could exacerbate vulnerabilities. Citing the U.S. Navy’s “Distributed Maritime Operations” concept, they argue that modern naval strategy favors many dispersed, smaller platforms rather than a few massive ships, making the Trump-class ships likely to be singled out. The paper also mentions that U.S. shipyards may struggle to keep pace, potentially delaying other critical vessels such as aircraft carriers and submarines.