President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to strip the United States Navy's newest type of aircraft carrier of its electromagnetic launch technology and revert to the older steam catapult system he has long championed. A presidential memorandum addressed to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth orders that, within 60 days, the Pentagon present a plan to replace the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and advanced weapons elevators on the USS Doris Miller — a Ford-class carrier designated CVN-81 — with steam and hydraulic systems, including cost estimates and timelines.

EMALS uses powerful magnets to accelerate aircraft along a carrier's deck, replacing the steam-driven pistons that have been standard on US carriers for decades. Proponents of the newer technology argue it launches aircraft at higher speeds, requires far fewer sailors to operate — reduced from roughly a dozen to just two on the USS Gerald R. Ford — and demands less physical space aboard the ship. General Atomics, the company that manufactures EMALS, said the work on the Doris Miller's catapults and arresting gear is already halfway complete and warned that