WASHINGTON, United States: President Donald Trump of the United States ordered a plan to restore US Navy steam catapults on the future USS Doris Miller aircraft carrier.
The White House memorandum gave Secretary of War Pete Hegseth 60 days to present measures for replacing the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, on CVN-81.
It also called for hydraulic systems to replace the carrier’s advanced weapons elevators. The directive requires proposed timelines and funding requirements.
The White House said the changes were intended to address long-term problems in US Navy shipbuilding and repair programmes.
Hudson Institute senior fellow Bryan Clark told CNN that altering a carrier already under construction would require a major redesign.
He estimated the change could cost billions of dollars and delay the ship’s expected 2034 entry into service until the late 2030s.
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The Navy awarded General Atomics a $1.204 billion contract in June 2023 to produce EMALS and advanced arresting gear for the USS Doris Miller, according to the Naval Air Systems Command. Production and support were planned through 2032.
Clark said EMALS had reduced staffing and maintenance costs by about $100 million annually on the Ford-class carrier. Naval journalist Chris Cavas told CNN that electromagnetic launches also placed less stress on aircraft.
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Both experts said the United States no longer had an active steam-catapult manufacturing base. Re-establishing production could cost tens of millions of dollars and take several years, Clark said.
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a retired US Navy captain and former test pilot, criticised the directive, arguing that presidents should not prescribe specific engineering systems for naval vessels.
