Trump's Aircraft Carrier Changes Draw Warnings of Higher Costs, Delays
Summary
President Donald Trump has directed the Navy to replace the electromagnetic launch system on the new aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller with traditional steam catapults. Defense experts warn that these changes could increase costs, delay the ship’s construction, and undo years of design work.Key Facts
- Trump signed a memorandum ordering the replacement of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) with steam catapults on the USS Doris Miller.
- The Ford-class carriers are the newest U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, replacing the older Nimitz-class ships.
- Officials say moving the carrier's command tower forward, as Trump favors, would be a major redesign causing delays and extra costs.
- EMALS allows faster aircraft launches, needs fewer crew members, and takes up less space compared to steam catapults.
- The Navy had already studied moving the command tower and found it would cost billions and delay projects.
- General Atomics, the company making EMALS, said changing systems now could cause significant cost and schedule problems because production is halfway done.
- China and France are also adopting electromagnetic catapult technology for their latest carriers.
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