May 12, 2017

Trump Wants New Aircraft Carriers to Turn Back to ‘Goddamned Steam’ Power Catapults

By Jerry Hendrix

Source: Foreign Policy

Journalist(s) Robbie Gramer

President Donald Trump is angry the U.S. Navy isn’t using more steam power. He sent the Navy scrambling Thursday after he suggested it scrap an already-built electromagnetic catapult system on its brand-new aircraft carrier and replace it with a “goddamn steam” one.

In excerpts from an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, Trump slammed the catapult launch system on the USS Gerald Ford, the new, high-tech supercarrier slated to become the crown jewel of the U.S. Navy. The new system, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), replaces the old steam-powered catapult launch system for hurling jets off a short runway, albeit with heftier up-front costs — which really peeved the commander in chief.

Read the full article at Foreign Policy.

  • Jerry Hendrix

    Senior Fellow and Director, Defense Strategies and Assessments Program

    Jerry Hendrix is a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security. A retired Captain in the United...