Trump’s 2027 budget request includes more than $65B for Navy shipbuilding

President Donald Trump is requesting a large budget increase for Navy shipbuilding in fiscal 2027, including initial funding for a new class of battleships.

The White House Office of Management and Budget officially released documents about the administration’s spending proposals for fiscal 2027 Friday. The administration wants $65.8 billion for shipbuilding, including money for 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships.

By comparison, the fiscal 2026 budget request allotted just under $42 billion for new construction of 19 battle force ships.

“The Administration is prioritizing ways to improve the procurement and delivery of the full range of vessels needed to engage adversaries and support DOW operations,” officials wrote in documents released Friday, using an acronym to refer to the Department of War, which is the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Department of Defense.

“As waters around the world become increasingly contested, it is imperative that the United States be able to efficiently deliver the various naval platforms it requires, including both battle force and auxiliary vessels, to ensure maritime domain awareness and deterrence,” they added.

As of Oct. 1, 2025, the Navy had 293 battle force ships in its inventory, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Naval advocates have argued for years that the fleet is too small to fully meet national security needs.

Last year, the Trump administration unveiled plans for a new class of battleships that would be armed with a variety of high-tech weapons including lasers, hypersonic missiles and other systems. It is part of the president’s vision for a so-called “Golden Fleet,” which is expected to include a new frigate, unmanned vessels and other assets. The battleships are expected to be conventionally powered, not nuclear powered, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle.

“The 2027 Budget establishes President Trump’s Golden Fleet, including initial funding for the Trump-class battleship and next generation frigates,” officials wrote in the new documents released Friday.

The documents did not specify how much investment would go toward battleships or maritime drones that would be part of a “hybrid fleet” of crewed and uncrewed systems.

For the Defense Department writ large, the budget proposal calls for “unprecedented investments” in unmanned and counter-unmanned systems as part of the Pentagon’s “drone dominance” initiative.

“This funding would arm America’s military’s combat units with drones while also providing protection against the proliferation of inexpensive and proliferated unmanned systems by near-peer competitors, rogue states, and non-state actors. This funding would enable innovative contracting approaches that provide flexibility in rapidly maturing technology and delivering a portfolio of capabilities that broaden opportunities for new entrants,” officials wrote.

They also added that “historic investments” would go toward aggressively scaling AI and furthering its broad adoption throughout the military.

“This funding includes the development and fielding of new AI capabilities, buildout of new American AI infrastructure, and continued support for the GenAI.mil platform,” per the documents. GenAI.mil is a new generative artificial intelligence platform that was announced in December, and five of the military branches have adopted it as their go-to enterprise system.

More granular details about the military’s programmatic spending plans are expected to be released later this month.

Analysts have estimated that the new battleships may cost upwards of $10 billion per vessel and would take more than 10 years to build.

“The Budget would maintain or increase the procurement of existing battle force platforms, including amphibious vessels, and Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines. The procurement of needed auxiliary platforms would be expanded, including strategic sealift vessels, hospital vessels, Consolidated Cargo Replenishment at Sea tankers, a special mission ship, submarine tenders, and other vessels vital for logistics. The repair capacity of public shipyards would be increased, while improved production across the feet would help address delays and ensure the timely delivery of vessels,” per the documents released Friday.

Trump is requesting nearly $1.5 trillion for defense in fiscal 2027, including $1.15 trillion in discretionary funding and $350 billion in mandatory spending. That would be a 44% increase for the Pentagon’s topline, according to a White House fact sheet.