Trump Orders Navy to Swap Hi-Tech Catapults for Steam
Is this a smart operational reset or a costly strategic blunder for the Navy?
Above: Stock Photo of the The USS Gerald Ford. Image credit: Samir Jordamovic/Anadolu/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
President Trump is making a smart call rooted in hard-earned operational reality. EMALS has been plagued by reliability and development problems for years, and steam is battle-tested tech the Navy ran successfully for decades. The change targets ships still under construction — not finished carriers — making this a sensible redesign, not a costly retrofit.
Anti-Trump narrative
Trump should stay out of this matter. This is a costly step backward at the worst possible moment. Steam requires 12 sailors per catapult versus two for EMALS — a crippling demand when the Navy already has roughly 20,000 unfilled billets. Burning billions to undo already-built technology hands adversaries a serious strategic advantage.
