The Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). The US Navy is looking into a significant redesign of its newest aircraft carriers, and the driving force behind it isn't military strategy but rather President Trump's personal taste in how the ships should look. That's according to seven current and former US officials who spoke with the Washington Post. At the heart of the review is the ship's "island," the multistory tower that functions as the carrier's command center. On the current Ford class carriers, that tower sits closer to the rear of the ship. The Navy is now studying whether it's feasible to move it farther forward, closer to the middle, so the ships resemble older vessels from decades past. The push stems directly from Trump's dissatisfaction with how the new Ford class ships look, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. What isn't clear yet is how far along this evaluation is or when any decision might actually be made. Officials familiar with the discussions cautioned that pulling off a change like this would demand enormous amounts of both time and money. Taken together, officials say these moves reflect a broader preference from Trump, who reportedly wants the newer carriers to look more like the ships that served during World War II. As the former official put it, the cost and time required to make that change turned out to be extraordinary. Navy plans call for building as many as 10 Ford class carriers over the next four decades. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Navy's latest shipbuilding plan, each future carrier is projected to cost around 22 billion dollars. Building the lead ship in the class, the USS Gerald R. Ford, took 17 years from start to finish, a timeline stretched out in part because of delays tied to the new technology built into its design. The Ford class is intended to eventually replace the Navy's Nimitz class carriers, which trace their design back to the late 1960s. Sagar is a journalist with an interest primarily in geopolitics and American domestic politics. Before joining Times Now, he wrote for Republic and Sw... View More