Copyright Breaking Defense
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told Navy sailors that he intends to sign an executive order directing the service to use steam for its aircraft carrier’s catapults and hydraulics for the ship’s elevators. “Seriously, I’m putting out an order. I’m going to sign an executive order. When we build aircraft carriers, it’s steam for the catapults and it’s hydraulic for the elevators. We’ll never have a problem,” Trump said Tuesday while speaking aboard the George Washington (CVN-73) during his trip to Asia this week. In a video of the speech, Trump can be seen briefly motioning towards a group of people he characterized as “top-ranking gentlemen,” asking for their agreement with the executive order; a voice can be heard responding “Aye, sir!” The seemingly off-handed comment, if the president follows through, could have serious ramifications for the Navy, which has spent years — and millions of dollars — testing and perfecting the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear being installed on its newest Gerald Ford-class aircraft carriers. Despite prolonged issues in testing, as documented by government auditors, EMALS and AAG are operational aboard the Gerald Ford (CVN-78) which was recently deployed to Latin America. Those aircraft launch-and-recovery systems are built by General Atomics and are being purchased by France for its own aircraft carriers. It’s not the first time Trump has fixated on the technology. During his first term, Trump made similar comments about the Navy’s carriers, but ultimately did not prevent or revert the service’s progress in developing EMALs and AAG. Requests for comment to the Navy and White House about the executive order Trump mentioned were not immediately returned.
