Congress and the Navy divide over nuclear surface ships

Will the United States build another nuclear-powered surface ship that is neither a carrier nor a submarine?

It is possible, and Congress has often seemed more enthusiastic about nuclear surface ships than the Navy.

A viewer asks whether the United States might again build nuclear-powered surface combatants other than aircraft carriers or submarines. Congress often appears more favourable to nuclear ships than the Navy itself. That distinction matters because lawmakers and the service can value the same design differently. Operational requirements, engineering feasibility, political preferences, and the cost of assigned missions can pull a warship programme in different directions.