Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare plans to replace advanced electromagnetic equipment on a new US aircraft carrier with traditional systems.
A national-security presidential memorandum gives defence chief Pete Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao sixty days to draw up a plan replacing the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, EMALS, and Advanced Weapons Elevators.
The design change concerns the Gerald R. Ford-class USS Doris Miller, already under construction and running two years behind its delivery schedule.
Trump has argued since 2017 that digital and electromagnetic systems are too complicated, expensive and vulnerable to breakdowns.
He maintains that traditional steam and hydraulic systems offer greater reliability and easier maintenance in combat, without requiring highly specialised technicians for repairs.
Steam catapults are the principal system used to launch heavy fighters from Nimitz-class carriers.
They release high-pressure steam in a controlled way to accelerate an aircraft from rest to more than 250 kilometres per hour in under three seconds.
The US Navy has used steam catapults on carriers since the 1950s.
Specialists argue that EMALS has important advantages, including lower costs, the ability to launch a wider range of aircraft and less expensive maintenance than conventional catapults.
The decision has therefore prompted opposition among senior naval officials and manufacturer General Atomics.
Industry representatives warn that the carrier is already half complete and a structural change could cause substantial extra costs and further delay.
Congressional critics also argue that political intervention in technical shipbuilding decisions overrides the expertise of Pentagon specialists.
