Christine Drews Sieger
President Donald Trump has demanded that the U.S. Navy redesign its newest aircraft carriers to resemble World War II-era ships, raising fears of massive cost overruns and delays.
President Donald Trump wants the U.S. Navy to redesign its newest nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Ukrainian news outlet UNN reported, citing Defense Express and The War Zone, that the president is unhappy with the look of the Gerald R. Ford class.
Seeking a visual homage to World War II-era vessels, Trump has instructed designers to reposition the carrier’s command structure closer to the midpoint of the flight deck.
Naval leaders are currently reviewing the proposed changes. Official sources have not confirmed which vessel might undergo the overhaul, but Defense Express suggests the fourth ship in the series, USS Doris Miller, could be modified.
Form follows function
The island superstructure acts as the nerve center for flight management, navigation, and overall battle control. Its placement today came after rigorous study rather than visual preference.
The carrier’s current flight deck gained an additional 11 percent of usable space by shifting the island roughly 40 metres aft relative to the older Nimitz class.
Arriving at this specific configuration required Navy engineers to analyze 75 distinct layout options over a four-year evaluation period starting in 1996.
Placing the tower back also smoothed air currents near the landing strip, protecting pilots during touchdown and speeding up flight operations, according to UNN.
Billions in delays
Altering a component so fundamental to the ship’s architecture forces a complete overhaul of underlying structural framing, critical network cabling, and internal communication systems.
With individual Ford-class vessels already exceeding $13 billion, industry experts caution that enforcing these redesigns could push total expenses billions higher while further disrupting production timelines.
Schedule setbacks are already impacting the fleet, evidenced by the USS John F. Kennedy—the second ship of its class—whose delivery date has slipped to late 2026, four years past its original target.
This request is part of a broader pattern of presidential pressure on carrier design.
Trump previously called on the Pentagon to scrap modern electromagnetic launch systems and return to traditional steam catapults, UNN reports.
