Trump Orders Navy to Return to Steam Catapults, Allows Overseas Shipbuilding

President Donald Trump has signed a national security memorandum directing the U.S. Navy to revert to using steam catapults for launching jet fighters from aircraft carriers, abandoning the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) used on the first three Gerald R. Ford-class carriers. The order also permits the Navy to build ships overseas. This design change is anticipated to incur hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs for taxpayers.