HII CEO notes hurdles of switching from EMALS to steam catapults
USS Gerald R Ford is shown here using EMALS to launch aircraft. The Trump administration wants to shift back to steam aircraft carrier catapults. (Michael Fabey)
Switching from Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and back to steam-operated aircraft carrier catapults on aircraft carrier Doris Miller (CVN 81) would cause notably costly Miller design changes and programme delays, according to Christ Kastner, CEO of HII, whose Virginia-based Newport News Shipbuilding constructs CVN 81 and other carriers.
“To make that change, it's a pretty significant design effort which would need to take place,” Kastner said during a segment of the Mission Critical Show YouTube blog that was posted on 10 October and produced with the assistance of HII.
Kastner's comments mark a change for HII, whose officials had previously not discussed the challenges in any detail of making such a catapult shift.
President Donald Trump sent a memorandum on 13 August to US Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth directing him to submit plans for the replacement of electric-based catapult and elevator systems aboard Ford-class carriers to systems that use steam and hydraulics, the White House confirmed on 13.
The memorandum calls for Hegseth, with consultation of Acting US Navy (USN) Secretary Hung Cao, to provide within 60 days from 13 August to the president through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, a plan on the “required measures” to replace the EMALS and Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWEs) with steam and hydraulic systems for the construction of Miller, including timelines and resourcing requirements.
Cao sent an internal navy memo on 28 August regarding the presidential directives, the USN confirmed to Janes.
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