U.S. President Donald Trump, who since returning to the White House last year has shown deep involvement in the future generation of U.S. Navy ships and even announced last year the development of a new model of large warships that would be named after him, is continuing his unprecedented intervention in the Navy’s work. Now, according to a Washington Post report, a costly change in the design of future aircraft carriers that are in various stages of construction is being examined at his demand.
U.S. administration officials familiar with the details told the newspaper that the Navy is examining the feasibility of moving the “island,” the term for the tower that houses the command bridge and radar and control systems, to the center of the aircraft carriers. Trump is reportedly concerned about the “appearance” of the design in the new generation of Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, in which the tower is positioned toward the rear of the ship, and wants to return to an older design that, in his view, more closely resembles aircraft carriers from the World War II era.
The Navy, a former senior administration official said, already examined this change during Trump’s first term. The study conducted at the time found that moving the tower would cost billions of dollars and could significantly delay the completion of the aircraft carriers. The result of the study was that "the cost and time to do so would just be extraordinary,” the former official said.
According to three officials, including some who remain in government positions, moving the “island” in the new generation of aircraft carriers toward the rear was done for reasons of efficiency and safety. The change not only created additional parking space for fighter jets near the electromagnetic launch systems, or catapults, used by the new-generation carriers, reducing the time needed to launch fighter jets, but also improved landing safety by reducing the chance of air turbulence.
Relocating the tower would require “extensive redesign,” Bryan Clark, a former Navy officer who now studies naval operations at the Hudson Institute in Washington, told the Post. Such a change to the aircraft carrier’s structure, he added, would affect the ship’s buoyancy and weight, and would be extremely expensive. “You can change it,” he added, “but it’s very disruptive.”
An F/A-18E Super Hornet takes off from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. Trump claims the old steam systems are more reliable
(Photo: U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters)
The Post stressed in its report that it is unclear what stage the review of the design change is in — meaning it is still unclear how likely it is that the review will find the change possible or worthwhile. But the report comes days after Trump already signed an order directing another dramatic design change in future aircraft carriers, demanding the removal of the electromagnetic launch catapult systems included in the new Ford class and a return to the older steam-based catapults.
A launch catapult is the system on an aircraft carrier that enables a fighter jet to accelerate quickly along the short takeoff runway. The U.S. Navy currently has 11 aircraft carriers in active service, 10 of them from the older Nimitz class, which use steam catapults. But the new Ford-class carriers, of which only one, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is currently in active service, have been fitted with the new electromagnetic systems, which are considered more efficient and advanced than steam systems.
Three Ford-class aircraft carriers are currently under construction at various stages: the John F. Kennedy, which is already undergoing sea trials, and the Enterprise and Doris Miller, which are still being built. In all, 10 Ford-class aircraft carriers, estimated to cost $22 billion, are expected to be built over the next 40 years, replacing the older Nimitz-class carriers, which first entered service in 1975.
The Ford aircraft carrier. A total of 10 more like it will be built - over the next 40 year
(Photo: Nolan Pennington / US Department of Defense/ AFP)
Trump often complains about the electromagnetic launch systems, claiming they are less reliable than the older steam systems. As early as 2017, he claimed he had instructed the Navy to return to “goddamn steam.” Just last month, he complained about the new systems in a speech, arguing that they are far worse than steam systems. “They’re too complex,” he said, claiming that in one case a ship had to be returned to port twice for work because of problems with its electromagnetic launch catapults. “When a little water touches the magnets, it stops working. You’re in the Atlantic Ocean with 60-foot waves, and in the Pacific Ocean with 70-foot waves, and they’re talking to me about magnets,” Trump said at the time. The order he has now signed states that his administration is prioritizing “proven, reliable and achievable technologies and vessel designs.”
But this change, too, could come at a high cost to the U.S. Navy. Although reports indicate it would apply only to the Doris Miller and not to the Kennedy or Enterprise, which are in more advanced stages of construction, experts say it is expected to delay the ship’s entry into service, because it is also already under construction.
Clark, the Hudson Institute researcher, told CNN that, for the Doris Miller alone, the change could cost billions of dollars and push its entry into service, now planned for 2034, to the end of the next decade. According to Clark, the electromagnetic system is similar to a high-speed train and is therefore “much simpler.” By contrast, steam catapults have far more parts, such as valves, pressure regulators and pistons. “The electromagnetic systems have proven to be easier to operate and cheaper in terms of manpower and maintenance. That is why the Navy saved $100 million a year on Ford-class aircraft carriers,” he said.
US Sen. Mark Kelly thinks Trump should stay in his own lane
(Photos: John McDonnell/ File/AP, Alex Brandon/AP)
Chris Cavas, a journalist and podcast host who covers naval issues and said he had been present at launches carried out using both electromagnetic systems and steam systems, argued that Trump’s order reflects very “outdated thinking.” “I can tell you from personal experience that you can feel the difference, and the difference is that the electromagnetic system is smoother,” Cavas said. “It puts much less strain on the aircraft.” Cavas and Clark both said the Navy now also faces the logistical problem of finding a manufacturer for steam catapults. Cavas said that while electromagnetic systems are manufactured for the Navy under contracts with companies, the Navy previously built the steam catapults itself. “They have not had to build new steam catapults since the USS George H.W. Bush,” Cavas said, referring to the aircraft carrier that entered service in 2009. “That was a long time ago, and all of that infrastructure is gone.”
Trump’s intervention in the design and planning of ships is, as expected, drawing criticism from Democrats in the U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain, criticized Trump for involving himself in engineering matters. “I have launched myself off aircraft carrier decks hundreds of times, I have a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and I was a test pilot, and even I would not advise the Navy on how to engineer specific systems on its ships,” Kelly said. “Donald Trump should stick to what he knows best — ballrooms, bankruptcies and bullshit.”