President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new Trump-class guided missile battleship makes clear that he intends to strengthen America’s military power, whatever one thinks of the name.

The battleships will, however, take a great deal of money and dockyard space that could be better spent on other warships suited to countering China. The key measure of naval combat power is not whether a warship is big and awesome-looking. Rather, it is whether a warship provides maximal bang-for-buck military capability. In 2025, and for at least the next 25 years, military potential must be defined as “highly effective for major combat operations against China.”