Trump orders new aircraft carriers to revert to steam catapults

US President Donald Trump has directed future aircraft carriers to scrap their advanced systems for launching warplanes and return to using older but "proven" catapult technologies, a move that could dramatically drive up military costs.

Trump made the announcement Thursday as part of a national security presidential memorandum to "fix critical long-term issues in Navy shipbuilding and ship repair programs and restore capacity and competition to the maritime industrial base."

The US Navy has dominated the seas since the World War II era but recent conflicts, including the war with Iran, have highlighted problems with aging vessels and lengthy procurement periods.

Trump bemoaned "an atrophied shipbuilding industrial base" which he said made building and repairing warships slower and more costly.

His order directs the Pentagon to draft a plan to replace the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Weapons Elevators with steam and hydraulic systems for forthcoming aircraft carriers.

The first ship affected will be the USS Doris Miller, the fourth Gerald R. Ford-class carrier which has a projected delivery date of 2034.

Changing the catapult systems will likely cost billions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute think tank. Operating and maintaining steam systems would also require more sailors.

General Atomics, the company that won the contract to build electromagnetic catapults for the Doris Miller, said the decision to switch systems "warrants careful reconsideration."

Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and retired US Navy combat pilot, mocked Trump's order as unnecessary meddling in military operations.

"I've launched off the front of aircraft carriers hundreds of times, have a Master's degree in aeronautical engineering, and am a test pilot and even I wouldn't suggest to the Navy how to engineer specific systems on its ships," Kelly posted on X.

Trump had complained about purported shortcomings of EMALS as early as 2017, when he said they were "not good" and "doesn't have the power" of steam catapults.

China has installed electromagnetic catapults on its newest aircraft carrier while France also has plans to deploy the technology.

In his memo, Trump also authorized the Pentagon to "award contracts that enable purchases from foreign suppliers in the near term" for a quicker turnaround.

Foreign firms will be allowed to build up to two ships in their parent shipyards, while additional vessels will be constructed in American ones, the memo said.