2 weeks ago
Trump Orders Navy to Replace Electromagnetic Catapults with Steam
An aircraft carrier is a giant floating airport for airplanes.
Planes need a strong push to take off from a carrier, because the runway is short.
For many years, carriers used steam to give planes that push.
The Navy built a new kind of carrier that uses electricity instead.
That new electric launch system has had problems.
The first ship to use it is called the USS Gerald R. Ford.
The President, Donald Trump, told the Navy to stop using the electric system.
He wants future carriers to go back to using steam.
Trump has been unhappy about the electric system for a long time.
He talked about his concerns again just last month.
Trump ordered the Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam catapults on future aircraft carriers.
The change stems from ongoing problems with the Navy's newer electromagnetic launch system.
The system caused problems aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, the first ship in the Ford class.
Trump has criticized the electromagnetic launch system repeatedly for several years.
Trump raised the issue again as recently as last month.
- Who
- President Donald Trump and the U.S. Navy
- What
- Trump ordered the Navy to abandon electromagnetic catapults in favor of steam catapults on future carriers
- Where
- United States Navy; problems occurred aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford
- When
- Not specified in the article; Trump criticized the system as recently as last month
- Why
- Because of ongoing struggles with the Navy's newer electromagnetic launch system
Key facts
- Decision
- Replace electromagnetic catapults with steam catapults on future carriers
- Target system
- Navy's newer electromagnetic launch system
- Problem ship
- USS Gerald R. Ford
- Ship class
- Ford class
- Duration of criticism
- Several years
- Most recent criticism
- Last month










