Trump orders US Navy to bring back steam catapults on new carrier, alarming experts
President Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy to scrap its modern electromagnetic launch system on a new aircraft carrier and go back to steam
President Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy to scrap its modern electromagnetic launch system on a new aircraft carrier and go back to steam catapults instead. The move could add billions of dollars to the bill and push the ship’s entry into service deep into the 2030s.
The directive, laid out in a White House memo and fact sheet released Thursday, tells Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deliver a plan within 60 days for a carrier now under construction and expected to carry the name USS Doris Miller. Naval experts say the order is abrupt, unusual and likely to force a major redesign of a warship that is already well along in the build.
A sharp reversal
The Navy’s newest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, uses the electromagnetic aircraft launch system, or EMALS. The older Nimitz-class carriers still rely on steam-powered catapults. Trump’s order would push the service back toward that earlier technology on future Ford-class ships.
That has baffled some naval specialists. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the redesign would probably cost “into the billions” and could delay the carrier, which had been expected to enter service earlier. The White House says the change will “fix critical long-term issues,” but it has not publicly explained why the Navy should reverse course on a system already installed on its latest carrier.
What changes on the ship
General Atomics, the system manufacturer, urged reconsideration and said work on the carrier’s catapults is already about halfway complete. Reversing direction now would introduce major risks and costs, according to the company’s warning cited in reporting on the directive.
The broader memo also touches on other shipbuilding issues, but the carrier order stands out because it reaches directly into detailed engineering on a vessel already under construction. Navy observers called that highly unusual. Some said the move would not only require redesign work but also more sailors to run the older equipment at a time when the Navy already has thousands of unfilled posts.
Global backdrop
The decision also cuts against the direction of some rivals. China’s newest aircraft carriers use electromagnetic catapult technology, while the US Navy would be moving back to steam on its next generation of ships if the order holds.
The instruction gives the Pentagon 60 days to present a plan. For the carrier expected to become the USS Doris Miller, that clock is now ticking. The price tag may climb, and the timeline may slip. By a lot.
