Trump Orders Navy to Scrap Electromagnetic Catapults, Forcing Costly Redesign of USS Doris Miller
Key Points
Trump signed a national security memorandum on August 13 ordering the Pentagon to redesign the USS Doris Miller with steam catapults instead of electromagnetic systems.
The USS Doris Miller is already two years behind schedule and 50 percent through EMALS production, making redesign extraordinarily costly and complex.
General Atomics warned the change introduces significant cost, schedule and integration risks to the $1.2 billion contract.
The Pentagon has 60 days to deliver a plan, while three other Ford-class carriers retain their electromagnetic systems unchanged.
President Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy to abandon electromagnetic catapults on the future USS Doris Miller and revert to steam-powered systems. The national security memorandum, signed August 13, gives the Pentagon 60 days to develop a plan for the change. Defence officials and contractors warn the redesign will cost billions of dollars and further delay a carrier already two years behind schedule.
What Trump ordered and why
Trump signed a national security memorandum directing Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao to replace the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Weapons Elevators with steam and hydraulic systems on the USS Doris Miller, a Ford-class carrier under construction at Newport News, Virginia. The ship is already two years behind schedule. Trump has criticised electromagnetic catapults since 2017, calling them too complex and expensive compared to steam systems. He told Time magazine in 2017 that the digital system “costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”
The cost and engineering challenge
General Atomics, the California-based firm with a $1.2 billion contract to build EMALS for the USS Doris Miller, warned that changing course with nearly 50 percent of production complete would introduce significant cost, schedule and integration risks. Experts argue the redesign will cost billions of dollars. The USS Doris Miller was designed from the outset around electrical systems, making conversion to 1950s-era steam technology extraordinarily difficult. The change requires replacing not just catapults but also advanced weapons elevators.
Who opposes the move
Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot and NASA astronaut with a degree in aeronautical and marine engineering, blasted Trump on August 14. “Donald Trump knows nothing about this stuff,” Kelly said. “He’s a marginally failed real estate developer with multiple bankruptcies.” Kelly, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned the redesign would probably cost billions of dollars and force the Navy to redesign ships well into development. The Pentagon has 60 days to submit its plan to Trump.
What stays unchanged
The USS Gerald R. Ford, USS John F. Kennedy, and USS Enterprise will retain EMALS and keep their electromagnetic systems. Only the USS Doris Miller, the fourth Ford-class carrier, faces the mandated redesign. China and France have both adopted electromagnetic catapults on their newest carriers, making the US move a reversal of global naval technology trends. Trump’s order applies only to future construction, not existing carriers already in service or nearing completion.
Final Thoughts
Trump’s order forces a costly redesign of an already-delayed carrier and reverses a decade of naval modernisation. The Pentagon must deliver its plan within 60 days, but engineering experts expect significant delays and multibillion-dollar cost overruns.
FAQs
Trump believes steam catapults are simpler, cheaper, and easier for sailors to repair at sea. He has criticised electromagnetic systems as too complex and expensive since 2017.
Experts warn the change will cost billions of dollars, though no exact figure has been disclosed. General Atomics noted that 50 percent of EMALS production is already complete.
Only the USS Doris Miller, the fourth Ford-class carrier under construction, will be redesigned. The USS Gerald R. Ford, USS John F. Kennedy, and USS Enterprise keep electromagnetic systems.
The Pentagon has 60 days from August 13 to submit a detailed plan to replace EMALS and Advanced Weapons Elevators with steam and hydraulic systems.
Disclaimer:
The content shared by Meyka AI PTY LTD is solely for research and informational purposes. Meyka is not a financial advisory service, and the information provided should not be considered investment or trading advice.
About Author
Danny Kontos
Co FounderDanny Kontos has been a stock investor since 2007 and co-founded Meyka in 2023. He keeps a small, focused portfolio and only moves when the numbers are hard to argue with. He has waited years on a single position before. Before Meyka, he ran a web hosting company and a mortgage lending platform, so he knows what a well-run business actually looks like under the hood. This article did not come from a news cycle. It came from someone who has been watching this space for a long time.
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