President Trump Orders Major Updates To Navy’s Aircraft Carriers: ‘Proven, Reliable, And Affordable’

The president directed the service to equip Ford-class aircraft carriers, such as the USS Doris Miller currently being constructed, with steam-powered catapult and hydraulic systems instead of the newer Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Weapons Elevators.

“The Department of War shall restore both capacity and competition to the maritime industrial base as it expands our naval force structure,” Trump said in the memo, using the administration’s preferred name for the Pentagon.

”It will use proven, reliable and affordable technologies and ship designs, as well as award contracts that enable purchases from foreign suppliers in the near term while simultaneously incentivizing investment in America’s shipbuilding industrial base, consistent with other major equipment purchases such as icebreakers,” the president said.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, currently uses EMALS, which Trump has criticized dating back to his first White House term as too complex and costly.

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Outstanding!

This is critical. U.S. commercial shipbuilding is nearly extinct – less than 0.2% of global output.

God bless the U.S.A.!

pic.twitter.com/KfrUThIOaI

— David Christopher (@bewatchful) August 14, 2026

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So badly needed! Thank you, President Trump!

— RestoreAmerica (@Freedom7Restore) August 14, 2026

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Then you’d know nuclear powered carriers with steam catapults are significantly more reliable and require significantly less maintenance.
Trump admin took in the data and is making a common sense decision.

— Hunter Morey

(@Hunter_morey) August 13, 2026

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The immediate target is the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), the fourth Ford-class carrier, which is currently under construction.

There is an important distinction to make about what Trump actually ordered.

The Navy is not being told to start ripping electromagnetic catapults out of carriers already in service. Instead, Hegseth, in consultation with the secretary of the Navy, has been given 60 days to present the president with a plan that lays out what it will take to replace the Doris Miller’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, with traditional steam catapults, as well as replacing its advanced weapons elevators with hydraulic systems.

That plan has to include timelines for getting the work done and lists of resources required to make the changes.

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