Ukraine Sees the Future of Naval Warfare. Trump Doesn't.

"The Navy said that the new warship type "will be the most lethal surface combatant ever constructed." The president portrayed the move as a boost for American shipbuilding and vowed to be personally involved in the ships' development. "The U.S. Navy will lead the design of these ships along with me," he said, "because I'm a really aesthetic person." Yet the "Trump class" battleship program seems optimized more to produce a scary-looking vessel than to address the rapidly changing threats to American military power on the open seas."

"Using the country's homegrown Sea Baby naval drones, Ukrainian forces badly damaged two oil tankers off the coast of Turkey, in the Black Sea. Shortly thereafter, another oil tanker was attacked, reportedly also by the Ukrainians, in waters thousands of miles away, in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Senegal. A similar attack on a tanker occurred earlier this month in the Mediterranean Sea."

"All of these vessels are believed to be part of the so-called shadow fleet of tankers that, despite multinational sanctions against Russia, have been sailing the world's oceans and delivering large quantities of Russian oil. Disrupting the invader's oil industry, thereby starving the Kremlin of revenue, has become essential to Ukraine's survival, and the use of cheap weaponry to disable faraway oil tankers is a crucial part of the country's military strategy."

A new U.S. Navy battleship class named after the president is advertised as the most lethal surface combatant ever constructed, with presidential involvement and an emphasis on aesthetics. The battleship program appears focused on producing an intimidating, visually striking vessel rather than addressing evolving maritime threats. Ukraine has used homegrown Sea Baby naval drones to damage multiple oil tankers across the Black Sea, Atlantic, and Mediterranean. Many targeted vessels belong to a shadow fleet carrying Russian oil despite sanctions. Disrupting Russia's oil revenue through inexpensive weapons that disable distant tankers has become a central Ukrainian strategy, reflecting an erosion of longstanding maritime norms.

Read at The Atlantic