Overview
- President Donald Trump signed the memorandum on Thursday directing the Navy to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and replace Ford‑class electromagnetic weapons elevators beginning with the USS Doris Miller.
- The order requires the Pentagon and Navy to produce detailed plans within 60 days to redesign CVN‑81 for steam catapults and hydraulic elevators.
- The memorandum pairs the tech reversal with industrial‑base measures that include a proposed fifth public shipyard, a component repair center for submarines, and temporary permission for up to two ships to be built overseas by firms with large U.S. investments.
- General Atomics and outside analysts warn that changing systems mid‑production will introduce major cost, schedule, and technical integration risks, with reporting estimating impacts from hundreds of millions up to billions of dollars.
- The change reverses a Navy choice made in 2009 to gain faster launches, lower maintenance and smaller crews with EMALS, leaves the first three Ford‑class carriers unchanged, and raises questions about shipyard capacity, manpower needs, and U.S. naval competitiveness as France and China adopt electromagnetic launch tech.