Trump Orders Steam Catapults

Trump directed the Navy to use steam catapults instead of electromagnetic launch systems.

•Balanced

‘Very outdated’: Trump’s directive to revert to steam catapults on new aircraft carrier baffles naval experts | CNN Politics

Trump orders billion-dollar Navy overhaul, boosting U.S. shipmaking

Trump Spending Billions to Revert Aircraft Carriers to Steam Catapults, Which Are 15+ Years Out of Date

Articles

Sources

38%

Analysis & opinion

The reporting

A neutral summary of the key facts most outlets agree on, drawn from reporting across the political spectrum.

President Donald Trump signed a national security memorandum directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Navy to replace electromagnetic aircraft launch systems with steam-powered catapults on future Ford-class aircraft carriers. The order targets the USS Doris Miller, the fourth Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, as the first ship to be redesigned. The Ford class uses the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, which debuted on USS Gerald R. Ford to launch jets without steam catapults. Naval experts said the change could add billions of dollars and push deployment into the late 2030s.

Analysis & opinion

The arguments that emerged from this coverage — built only from the analysis and opinion pieces, never from straight reporting. Each dot is one article, placed by its outlet's bias — left to right. How to read our graphics →

angles sorted left-argued → right-argued

Costly Catapult ReversalLeans Left

Trump’s push to put steam catapults back on future aircraft carriers is an unjustifiable step backward to obsolete technology. The change would waste billions of dollars and reflects poor judgment rather than a sound naval need.