Is We Not Learning? [View all]

Big, expensive capital ships are not the battle platforms that they were early in the last century. When several battleships were lost at Pearl Harbor, the Navy was smart enough to not build replacements. They knew in 1941 that carriers and airplanes would be more effective than giant artillery platforms slowly floating offshore. Even the vaunted Battleship Missouri was retired soon after it's re-deployment to Iraq.

Fast forward to present day. While giant aircraft carriers have been very effective, a new generation of armaments have made their protection difficult and expensive.

Ukraine, a country without a navy, has destroyed 1/3 of Russia's floating assets in the Black Sea. Cheap drones have changed the whole seascape of war.

What is the role of "Trump class" battleships in modern military planning.