Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2026)

TECH FEATURE

HOW WILL THE NAVY HOW WILL THE NAVY

RESPOND TO PRESIDENT RESPOND TO PRESIDENT

TRUMP’S DEADLINE? TRUMP’S DEADLINE?

U.S. Navy Photo

REPLACING THE CATAPULT SYSTEMS ON FORD-

CLASS CARRIERS WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

By Drew Robb he catapult systems on Ford-class aircraft carriers out,” said steam engineer Matt Janssen, President of Vapor known as electromagnetic aircraft launch systems Motive Company of Sandpoint, Idaho. (EMALS) have been plagued with problems. Presi- His proposal is to rip out EMALS and install a mod- dent Trump has decided that enough is enough, is- ern steam system beneath each of the four catapults. This

T suing an Executive Order in August of 2026. It gave the avoids the need to change any nuclear energy infrastruc-

Navy two months to come up with a plan to replace EM- ture, while keeping costs low and resolving the reliability

ALS with steam-based systems in the next Ford-class ves- and affordability issues surrounding EMALS.

sel, the CVN-81, currently under construction.

Easier said than done. Ford-class carriers are electric. EMALS Frailties

Their reactors do not create service steam for major ship The Ford-class carrier program has gained a reputation systems. It is generally believed that retro? tting the vessel for lengthy delays and cost overruns. The original version, to provide suf? cient steam to operate catapults would en- and the only one fully commissioned to date, is the CVN- tail a major and expensive change to the nuclear reactor’s 78 USS Gerald R Ford. It was launched several years late steam generation system, deck alterations, and a whole with massive cost overruns. It gained unwanted attention new steam distribution system. The price tag to revert to in 2026 for being out of service in the Mediterranean. Fire steam could end up higher than ? xing the beleaguered damage, inoperable toilets, and other issues led to it limp-

EMALS system. ing home. It is estimated that it will be sidelined for main- “Unproven EMALS technology was implemented with tenance for more than two years. As part of it, the EMALS a concurrent engineering/build strategy that hasn’t worked catapult system is scheduled to receive a $25 million soft- 62 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2026

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