By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-08-14 01:02:01 | Updated at 2026-08-14 01:47:28
1 hour ago
President Donald Trump ordered the Navy on Aug. 13 to return to using steam catapults to launch fighter jets from aircraft carriers instead of using the newer electromagnetic catapult system.
The president’s national security memorandum targets the electromagnetic catapult system used on Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The order came as part of a memorandum aimed at rebuilding the Navy and America’s shipbuilding industrial base.
Prior to the Aug. 13 memorandum, Trump had called for the Navy to stop including the electromagnetic launch system on new ships being built. He said the newer technology was more expensive and less effective than traditional steam catapults, which have been used on aircraft carriers for over 50 years.
Thursday’s memorandum directed the Navy to replace the advanced electromagnetic aircraft launch systems and advanced weapons elevators with steam and hydraulic systems as part of the construction of the USS Doris Miller. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao were given 60 days to develop a plan to replace the systems.
The USS Doris Miller is being built by Huntington Ingalls, the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States and the main contractor for Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers.
The Navy began using electromagnetic catapults to launch fighter jets on Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers after conducting the first successful test of the technology on one of the aircraft carriers in 2015.
When the newer technology was introduced, the Navy said the electromagnetic system delivered improvements in system maintenance, increased efficiency and reliability, higher-launch energy capacity, and more accurate end-speed control.
However, Trump criticized the Navy’s electromagnetic launch system for fighter jets as too costly and complicated, at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit in July.
“Billions of dollars more they spent on electric catapults, and they’re not good,” he said. They’re not nearly as good, too complex.”
In a fact sheet accompanying Thursday’s memorandum, the White House said the War Department would also be taking steps to address “critical long-term issues” in the Navy’s shipbuilding and repair programs.
“The United States Navy has experienced a series of shipbuilding setbacks stemming from overly complex designs and iterative design change procedures, which have resulted in cost growth, delays, and cancellations,” Trump said in the memorandum.
Six major Navy shipbuilding programs have been backlogged due to a lack of capacity and competition in the shipbuilding industry, the White House said. It added that diminished shipbuilding industrial bases and supplier bases have led to increased costs and greater delays.
“The Department of War shall restore both capacity and competition to the maritime industrial base as it expands our naval force structure,” the memorandum stated.
The memorandum said the War Department would incentivize investment in America’s shipbuilding industrial base while also awarding contracts that allow purchases from foreign suppliers. The $6 billion agreement between the United States and Finland to build icebreaker ships will serve as a model, Trump said.
Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb announced a joint deal last October to have seven icebreaker ships built in the United States and four others built in Finland.
“We’re buying the finest icebreakers in the world,” Trump said at the time.
The White House said on Aug. 13 that foreign shipbuilders would be temporarily permitted to build up to two ships in their parent shipyards to support a quick turnaround, while additional ships would be constructed in American shipyards.
Trump also ordered the War Department to establish a fifth naval shipyard to increase aircraft carrier and nuclear-powered submarine readiness. The White House said the establishment of the fifth shipyard would be the first of its kind in over 80 years.
In addition to the fifth naval shipyard, Trump directed the War Department to establish a component repair center to hold, repair, and refurbish parts for the Navy’s submarine programs.
Trump’s memorandum directed Hegseth to conduct a full review, reform, and reorganization of Naval Sea Systems Command to address problems with American shipbuilding. The memorandum said the reforms should include results-based accountability determined by production speed and the reduction of red tape and bureaucracy.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Navy for comment but did not receive a response before publication time.
Reuters contributed to this report.
