Navy Looking Into Warship Redesigns as Part of Trump Requests

The U.S. Navy is thinking about redesigning its newest aircraft carriers to match the style that President Trump prefers. According to a report from the Washington Post, the Navy may change its Ford-class ships so they look more like the warships used during World War II. Military officials say these changes could cost billions of dollars and cause serious delays in building the ships.

One of the biggest proposed changes is moving the ship's command center tower — a tall, multistory structure — from one side of the ship to the middle. Military officials told the Washington Post that this move would cause three major problems. It would take away extra parking space for aircraft, slow down the time it takes to launch planes, and make it harder for pilots to land without hitting rough air.

Building aircraft carriers already takes a very long time. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the first ship in the Ford-class line, took 17 years to finish because of delays and the challenges of adding new technology. That ship introduced a new launching system called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, which uses electricity instead of steam to catapult planes off the deck. The Navy has said EMALS works very well.

The White House released an official memo that called for switching another ship's EMALS system back to the older steam-powered style. The memo said this was needed to 'fix critical long-term issues in Navy shipbuilding.' However, a company called General Atomics, based in California, pushed back on that idea. The company has a $1.2 billion contract to build the EMALS system and said it is nearly halfway done with the project.

General Atomics warned that stopping now would create 'significant cost, schedule and integration risks.' A defense expert named Bryan Clark, from a think tank called the Hudson Institute, added another concern. He said steam catapults are no longer being made, and the last set the Navy bought was purchased 20 years ago. That means switching back to steam power would not be a simple fix.

These possible changes come at a difficult time for the Navy. Demand for aircraft carriers has increased because of the ongoing war involving Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln has been stationed in the Middle East for more than 260 days. Members of Congress from both the Senate and the House have raised concerns about the conditions on that ship.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the acting Secretary of the Navy. In the letter, he said he had 'serious concerns' about what sailors on the Lincoln are experiencing. He pointed to reports of supply shortages, water that may not be safe to drink, and worsening mental health among the crew.