Image for representation purposes only The United States Navy has confirmed that its future Trump-class battleships will be nuclear-powered under the service’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan. The proposal, released on Monday, formally acknowledged for the first time that the planned Trump-class battleships, referred to as BBGNs in the document, will use nuclear propulsion instead of conventional power systems. Naval observers had been discussing the possibility for months, although senior Navy officials had previously suggested that a nuclear-powered design was unlikely. According to the shipbuilding plan, the new battleships are designed to give the fleet greater combat capability through longer endurance, higher speed and the ability to support advanced weapon systems needed for modern warfare. The Navy said the Trump-class ships are meant to deliver large volumes of long-range offensive firepower while also serving as survivable forward command-and-control platforms. The service also clarified that the new battleships are not intended to replace the existing Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. Since the Trump administration announced the programme in December, Navy officials have often linked the new ships to the earlier DDG(X) programme, which had originally been planned as the next-generation destroyer after the Arleigh Burke class. Rear Adm. Ben Reynolds, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, said last month during the Fiscal Year 2027 budget rollout that the Navy had spent more than five years developing the DDG(X) large surface combatant concept. Reynolds also rejected claims that the battleship programme was not a Navy requirement. The latest shipbuilding proposal said the DDG(X) programme would have required compromises in capability and weapons systems. The Navy stated that the fleet required a surface combatant with the most complete capability possible instead of accepting operational trade-offs. Under the plan, the Navy intend