President Trump doesn’t like the way the U.S. Navy launches planes from its new Ford-class aircraft carriers or the way the carriers look, and so the Navy is eyeing major design changes that could cost billions of dollars and cause years of delays in the construction of new ships.
Trump has long complained about the launching system used on the USS Gerald R. Ford, the first in a new generation of aircraft carriers that are set to replace the 1960s-era Nimitz-class carriers that make up most of the current fleet. In the Ford class, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, known as EMALS, replaces the older, steam-driven catapults that were first deployed in the 1950s. The rollout of EMALS on the Ford was marred by numerous technical difficulties, and the system continues to face questions about its reliability, though it has now recorded more than 35,000 successful launches.
As the Ford was undergoing testing during his first term, Trump complained about all of the new technology on the ship and called for the Navy to go back “to goddamned steam,” claiming that sailors have to be like Albert Einstein to operate the ship’s “crazy electric catapult.”
Demanding changes: Last week, Trump issued a presidential memorandum that orders the Pentagon to produce plans to replace EMALS on the USS Doris Miller, the fourth Ford-class carrier, which is currently under construction and scheduled to be delivered in 2034. If approved, the design could create a new subclass of carriers based on the Ford design but utilizing steam-powered catapults.
Trump also has complaints about the way the Ford-class carriers look. The Washington Post reported this past weekend that Trump doesn’t like the location of the Ford’s island, the tower that sits above the deck and holds various control rooms for the ship. Trump wants the new carriers to look more like older carriers, such as the Essex-class carriers built in the 1940s, that had islands closer to the middle of the ship on the starboard side, rather than toward the rear. In the Ford class, the island was moved back to improve safety, efficiency and launch rates, but the Navy is now looking into the feasibility of moving the island forward.
Major changes, major costs: Naval experts say that the changes being contemplated for the Ford-class carriers are significant and could result in scheduling delays and cost overruns stretching into the billions — a serious problem for a ship that has already experienced plenty of both issues.
Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the conservative-leaning Hudson Institute, said switching back to steam power would fundamentally change the Ford-class ships, which use electricity for many functions, including heating and water purification. “These functions all used steam in previous carrier classes,” Clark told Breaking Defense. “Restoring steam lines to at least the catapults will require extensive redesign of the ship.”
Clark added that the Navy hasn’t built a steam catapult in more than two decades, raising the question of whether suppliers and subcontractors still exist.
Other experts have pointed out that bringing back steam would alter the crew requirement, with dozens of sailors needed to operate the elaborate system, and reduce the expected life of aircraft onboard, since steam-powered launches are more violent and add extra stress to the airframes being launched.
Speaking to the Post about moving the island, Clark said it would require “a major redesign” that would likely change the ship’s weight and buoyancy. “You could change it,” he said, “but it’s very disruptive.”
A former senior official told the Post that the Navy had looked into moving the island during Trump’s first administration and determined that it could cost billions of dollars for a new design while delaying construction significantly. “It came back that the cost and time to do so would just be extraordinary,” the official said.
What comes next: The Pentagon has a 60-day deadline to produce a new design using steam catapults, which means that Trump could order changes in the design of the fourth Ford-class carrier. Carrying out such an order, though, could take years, extending beyond the end of Trump’s second term, raising the possibility that the changes remain on the drawing board for a few years while never making their way out to sea.