Trump approves "Golden Fleet" of new ships and drone boats, Navy's Phelan tells Axios

Driving the news: Phelan's response to Axios at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California offers military watchers their best glimpse yet at the purported future armada, which shares the shine of the administration's proposed hemispheric missile shield, Golden Dome.

Per Phelan, it includes:

1. An American-made frigate, different from the Constellation-class that Phelan axed before Thanksgiving, which was based on a design adopted by the French and Italian navies.
2. Modernized tankers, oilers and logistics ships, which Phelan described on X as "unsung heroes."
3. And "quite a bit" of unmanned technology. Earlier in the conference, Phelan told reporters of a $392 million deal with drone-boat maker Saronic.

What they're saying: "We will continue to build ships that are the cornerstones of the fleet. Carriers. Destroyers. Amphibs. Submarines," the Navy secretary said.

• "But we need new ships, and we need modern ships."

Inside the room: Phelan met with Trump on Wednesday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought also attended.

Between the lines: U.S. shipbuilders produce less than 1% of China's output each year, by tonnage.

• Trump wants to supercharge domestic shipbuilding. Many experts are pessimistic about the degree to which that's possible in the near term.

What's next: "The president has talked about what I'm going to call the Big Beautiful Ship," Phelan said, "and what I'll say on that is: Stay tuned."

Go deeper: Trump demands ships "very fast, very soon" as China dominates