President Donald Trump issued a memorandum Thursday directing the Department of Defense to plan for replacing the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and advanced weapons elevators on a future Ford-class carrier with steam and hydraulic systems. The order targets the future USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), currently under construction.
The directive gives the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy 60 days to develop a transition plan, including timelines and resource requirements. The president has long derided the new electric catapult system. During a 2019 address to troops, he stated, "We all want innovation, but it's too much. There's never been anything like the steam catapult," and renewed his criticism last month at a defense summit.
The shift carries significant industrial implications for American workers. Steam catapult production lines ceased operation after the Navy’s final purchase two decades ago. Reconstituting that manufacturing base from scratch will require substantial public investment, echoing the administration's focus on domestic shipbuilding capacity and workforce growth outlined alongside the catapult decision. The order also mandates exploring a fifth public shipyard.
"Redesigning the carriers to replumb them for steam piping to the catapults will add billions to the cost of the ship and delay delivery by years," Bryan Clark, a defense expert at the Hudson Institute, stated, noting the Navy currently saves roughly $100 million annually on the USS Gerald R. Ford due to the newer system's lower manning and maintenance requirements.
CVN-81, being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding, is halfway through construction with a 2034 delivery date. A design reversal of this magnitude stands to directly impact skilled shipyard labor, potentially sustaining jobs through an extended construction timeline but also raising serious questions about project management and the bottom-line cost to American taxpayers.