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The U.S. Navy says it plans to buy 15 hulking “battleships” over the next 30 years. The number of such behemoths it actually needs comes closer to zero. The sooner Congress recognizes that fact, the better off American taxpayers, and indeed the Navy, will be. The president introduced the first new warship, dubbed the USS Defiant, in December. Having long touted the beauty and power of World War II-era battleships, he claimed that the new class of battleships would be 100 times more powerful than their predecessors and bigger than any current U.S. surface combatants. They’d bristle with cutting-edge weaponry — including lasers, hypersonic missiles and rail guns — and be armed with nuclear-capable cruise missiles. The Navy now says they’ll also be powered by nuclear reactors. Strategists who’ve studied the issue for the Navy say there’s a case for a warship somewhat larger than current Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which displace less than 10,000 tons and carry a little under 100 vertical launch cells for missiles and interceptors. The war in Iran has underscored how vi