The USS John F Kennedy, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, left Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on 12 August to begin sea trials ahead of its planned handover in March 2027.
President Donald Trump, on the following day, signed a memorandum directing the Pentagon to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) from a different Ford-class carrier, the future USS Doris Miller, and fit steam catapults instead. The memorandum is titled Rebuilding the United States Navy and America’s Shipbuilding Industrial Base.
The document gives the Secretary of War, the administration’s title for the defence secretary, 60 days to submit a plan covering timelines and resourcing.
The order also directs replacement of the carrier’s electromagnetic Advanced Weapons Elevators with the hydraulic systems used on older Nimitz-class ships.
USS Gerald R Ford, the lead ship of the class already in service, and the future USS Enterprise, the third hull under construction, will keep the electromagnetic system, alongside John F Kennedy.
Doris Miller is the fourth Gerald R Ford-class carrier and is
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