The U.S. Navy may alter the designs of its next generation of aircraft carriers to meet specifications requested by President Donald Trump, according to a new report.
The potential overhaul has prompted criticism from former officials and naval experts, who warn that it could elevate aesthetics over operational capability.
The review involves the Ford-class carriers, nuclear-powered supercarriers designed to replace the aging Nimitz-class fleet, The Hill reported.
The Navy is conducting an internal assessment of whether to relocate the ship’s command-center tower, known as the island, closer to the center of the vessel. The shift would make the carriers more closely resemble older designs, a former senior U.S. official told the outlet. The review is expected to conclude within weeks.
Trump’s reported concerns about the appearance of the Ford-class carriers helped prompt the review.
A Navy official told The Hill that the president had instructed the service to “implement design changes to our future aircraft carriers,” adding that it “has begun moving out on options to meet the President’s intent.”
Hunter Stires, a former strategist to the Navy secretary, criticized the potential redesign of the island, which serves as the vessel’s command center and helps manage flight-deck operations. Warships, he told the outlet, are designed to win battles — not to win “a beauty pageant.”
“The placement of the island on the Ford class was chosen to support the ship’s design purpose of maximizing aircraft sortie generation — which for an aircraft carrier, directly translates to combat power,” he said. “A good-faith exploration of future carrier design based on real-world operational requirements is one thing.”
“Expending millions of taxpayer dollars and the time and energy of the Navy’s engineering organizations redesigning the nation’s premier capital ship to indulge the president’s aesthetic whims is not only wasteful and abusive, it exemplifies President Trump’s evident contempt for America’s fighting sailors,” Stires added.
Relocating the island could also carry a substantial cost. One study found that moving it to the center of the carrier could add billions of dollars and delay the program, a person familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
“It came back that the cost and time to do so would just be extraordinary,” a former official said.
On Thursday, Trump also issued a national security memorandum that does not address the review but directs the Navy to replace the electromagnetic catapult systems on aircraft carriers with older steam-powered systems.
The president wants the future carrier fleet to more closely resemble the ships used during World War II, officials told the Post.
Currently, there are three Ford-class carriers under development. One, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is already operational and recently concluded a tour in the Middle East.
When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson referred The Independent to the Department of Defense. A Defense Department spokesperson referred The Independent to the White House.
