[Global Times Special Correspondent Chen Yang] The USS Ford, the first ship of the US "Ford" class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, has been in service for many years and is still plagued by the unreliable performance of electromagnetic catapults. US President Trump has lost patience with this. On October 28th, he announced on the USS Washington aircraft carrier stationed in Japan that he would sign a presidential executive order requiring the US aircraft carrier to change back to steam catapult. This technical "reversing" behavior of the aircraft carrier immediately caused an uproar.
Dissatisfaction with the Ford has a long history
The US "Newsweek" website said on the 28th that when addressing the US Navy personnel stationed in Japan, Trump once again expressed his long-standing dissatisfaction with the electromagnetic catapult and ammunition lift system adopted by the "Ford" class aircraft carrier. During the speech, Trump asked the audience: "Which is better, electromagnetic ejection or steam ejection?" The report described that after saying "electromagnetic ejection," he paused and the audience was silent, followed by many people bursting into cheers when he mentioned "steam."
"We have a steam catapult, and it works very well. It has been used for 50 years, right? So we want to return to steam." Trump said, "I will sign an executive order. When we build an aircraft carrier, the catapult will be ejected with steam and the elevator will be driven by hydraulic pressure. They (the US Navy) spent billions of dollars to make stupid electric systems. The problem is, once it breaks down, you have to send someone to MIT and invite the smartest people in the world to repair it. As for the steam system, they say it can be fixed with a hammer and a blowtorch. And it works just as well, if not better. I love the wonderful sight of steam spewing from the deck. If you use electromagnetic ejection, you won't see this effect. "
The US "Power" website "War Zone" channel said on the 28th that the current 10 "Nimez" class aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy use traditional steam launchers and hydraulic-driven ammunition lifts, while the latest "Ford" class aircraft carrier changed to electromagnetic launchers and motor-driven ammunition lifts.
This is not the first time Trump has criticized the issue of the Ford-class aircraft carrier’s electromagnetic launchers and lifts. Earlier in his first term as president, he threatened to order the U.S. Navy to abandon these features but failed to take action. In an interview with the U.S. Time magazine in 2017, Trump criticized the systems for being too complex and costly, and said: “Digital systems cost hundreds of millions more and are useless.”
In 2019, Trump once again criticized the unreliability of the "Ford" electromagnetic launchers when inspecting the bipartisan attack ship "The Bear" and caused the ship's construction work to be delayed and cost overpaid.We spent so much money on the electromagnetic launch system that no one knew what would happen in bad weather.
The U.S. Navy said that once the problems caused by the immaturity of these advanced technologies on the Ford are solved, the new technologies will help extend the service life of carrier-based aircraft and improve combat efficiency.
747 ejection tests 10 serious failures
What happened to the electromagnetic catapult of the USS Ford aircraft carrier that made Trump angry? The "Theater" channel of the "Power" website described that, in theory, the electromagnetic ejection system can significantly improve the dispatch efficiency of the "Ford-class aircraft carrier. The reset time of the electromagnetic ejection system controlled by software is shorter than that of the" Nimitz "class aircraft carrier. The steam power system is shorter, and the intensity of the ejection can be adjusted more carefully to adapt to the take-off of carrier-based aircraft of different tonnage. This feature is crucial for future" Ford-class aircraft carriers to operate with carrier-based drones. In addition, electromagnetic catapults can also reduce the wear and tear of carrier-based aircraft during take-off.
But before the "Ford" was in service, its electromagnetic launchers exposed to unreliable problems. As of September 2018, "Ford"'s electromagnetic launchers carried out 747 launch tests, in which 10 serious failures occurred, far above the U.S. Navy's "average 4166 launchs occur 1 serious failure" standard; the same problem also appeared in the electromagnetic interference system, in 763 landing tests, the interference device occurred 10 operational failures, equally far above the "1.65 million landings occur 1 failure" standard.
Even after the "Ford" entered service in 2019, these problems have not been completely solved. At the same time, due to the failure of the electromagnetic catapult to complete the adaptive modification, the "Ford" has not been able to safely eject and land the new F-35C stealth carrier-based fighter jet, which may not be achieved until the upgrade in 2027. In sharp contrast, there are already many "Nimitz" class aircraft carriers using steam catapults that have the ability to carry F-35C fighter jets.
The ammunition elevator mentioned by Trump is another "stubborn disease" of the Ford. The Wall Street Journal of the United States previously disclosed that when the "Ford" was in service that year, only two of the 11 advanced ammunition elevators (AWE) it was equipped with could be put into use. The U.S. Navy claims that the new ammunition lift uses electromagnetic propulsion technology to move faster and require less routine maintenance. Even with loads as high as 11 tons, their lifting speed can reach about 46 meters per minute, which is more than double the capacity of traditional lifts driven by cables and hydraulics on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
However, since the USS Ford entered service, the reliability issue of AWE has also been delayed. The "Theater" channel of the "Power" website stated that if the working capacity of the ammunition elevator is limited, logistics personnel will have to travel frequently between the ammunition depot and the flight deck to transport the required missiles, bombs and other materials, which will undoubtedly limit the number of sorties on the aircraft carrier and increase the risk of accidents.
As for why these problems of the "Ford" can not be solved late, Bloomberg previously concluded that the U.S. Navy and shipbuilding enterprises were too optimistic, on the aircraft carrier used too much of the unrivaled advanced technology at the same time, and adopted the so-called "parallel" technology route, that is, the shipyard without confirmation of the final design or fully mature components, to start construction of the aircraft carrier, and the U.S. Navy continued to modify the program, the greater risk. U.S. Navy spokesman earlier told Bloomberg, because of "the development and construction of the elevator simultaneously", and the aircraft carrier's internal structure has been continuously modified over time, eventually found up to dozens of cabins do not meet the
The latest annual report released earlier this year by the Pentagon Operational Test Assessment Office shows that although the "Ford" aircraft carrier completed its first real-time deployment in May 2023 to January 2024, the shipbuilding coalition used an electromagnetic launch system completed 8725 launches, but the aircraft carrier's electromagnetic launch system reliability remains insufficient, leading to the shipbuilding efficiency below the standard.
Redesigning Carriers Will Cost Billions
Despite the current technical deficiencies of the Ford, almost all US media believe that Trump wants to return the US aircraft carrier to the era of steam ejection, which is very unlikely. Newsweek said Trump's main purpose in demanding the return of steam catapults to future U.S. aircraft carriers was to improve reliability, save money and reduce construction time. But since the last Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Bush, entered service in 2008, the U.S. steam catapult production line has been shut down, and restarting the production line and recruiting related workers will cost a lot of extra money.
More troublingly, the new carrier needs to be redesigned. The U.S. Navy Society website that the installation of steam launchers on a "Ford" class aircraft carrier is not easy.The original design of the "Ford" class ship was to accommodate a complete power system, powered by the power-driven turbines generated by nuclear reactors to power the entire ship's power network, thereby driving core systems such as electromagnetic launchers, electromagnetic blockage devices and engine-driven ammunition lifts. The "Nimez" class steam launchers will need to lay steam pipes across the ship, so the internal space distribution of the two-level aircraft carrier is also different and requires a brand new design. U.S. Strategy and Budget Assessment Center senior researcher Brian Clark said
At the same time, the "Ford" level has reserved space for the transformation of future combat equipment such as directed energy weapons, which also leads to the direct application of the "Nimez" class aircraft carrier design approach is not working. Clark, for example, said that if a lot of electricity to operate laser weapons will be installed on aircraft carriers equipped with steam launchers, the carrier will need to have a strong power generation capacity and complex steam supply devices, greatly increasing the complexity of the system.
Tal Manville, a retired U.S. Navy colonel who has been involved in the design of the "Ford" class aircraft carrier, told the U.S. Navy's website, "Ford" class aircraft carrier number 2 "Kennedy" has basically been built, the subsequent "Enterprise" and "Doris Miller" also adopted the same design scheme, and these aircraft carriers that have begun or even near completion, will inevitably seriously delay their service time.
In recent years, the Pentagon has deployed troops around the world, undergoing huge pressure of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier fleet, the construction and service plan of the "Ford" class aircraft carrier has been delayed several times, the U.S. Navy is forced to let the aging "Nimez" class aircraft carrier continue to serve "Nimez" class aircraft carrier, in addition to causing cost increases and serious delays, any major changes in the "Ford" class aircraft carrier infrastructure, will also affect the U.S. Navy's plan to replace the "Nimez" class aircraft carrier.