US President Donald Trump has ordered a broad overhaul of the country’s naval shipbuilding approach, including opening the door to limited foreign construction of US Navy ships while directing the development of plans to return aircraft carriers to steam-powered catapults and hydraulic weapons elevators.
The measures are contained in a presidential memorandum signed August 13 titled Rebuilding the United States Navy and America’s Shipbuilding Industrial Base. The memorandum attributes persistent navy shipbuilding problems to complex designs, repeated design changes, limited shipyard capacity and a lack of competition, which it says have contributed to cost growth, delays and cancellations.
According to the President, the lack of capacity and competition among shipbuilders has resulted in large backlogs of orders across six major navy shipbuilding programs. An atrophied shipbuilding industrial base, coupled with diminished adjacent supplier bases, has expanded delays and increased costs.
New shipbuilding model
A central element of the new policy is the proposed use of a “Finland Model” to expand US shipbuilding capacity. Under the approach, foreign shipbuilders could initially construct ships abroad, but would have to simultaneously establish a new US shipyard or acquire a majority stake in an existing American yard. After the first two ships, subsequent vessels would be built in US shipyards.
Foreign suppliers participating in the model would also be required to hire and train an American workforce, license proprietary shipbuilding technologies and techniques to their US operations, and establish a US-based supply chain for construction and maintenance.
The memorandum directs the Secretary of War, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, to develop within 90 days a new competitive acquisition approach for surface combatants capable of conducting anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and convoy escort missions. The approach is to allow proposals based on the international procurement model.
Similar arrangements are envisioned for Consolidated Cargo Replenishment at Sea tankers and roll-on/roll-off vessels, with trade-related financial resources to be directed toward investments in the US maritime industrial base.
The administration is also seeking to expand domestic shipyard capacity. Within 120 days, the Secretary of War is to submit a plan for establishing a fifth public navy shipyard, with the objective of increasing nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier maintenance capacity. The plan is to examine locations near the Pacific Fleet and consider up to three new dry docks capable of accommodating current and projected submarine classes, as well as public-private financing arrangements.
Design of Ford-class aircraft carriers
Alongside the shipbuilding measures, the memorandum directs a significant change to the design of future Ford-class aircraft carriers.
Within 60 days, the Secretary of War, in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, must submit a plan detailing how to replace the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and advanced weapons elevators (AWE) with steam and hydraulic systems on CVN-81, the fourth Ford-class carrier.
The directive would mark a reversal from the technology adopted for the Ford class. EMALS uses stored kinetic energy and electrical power conversion to launch aircraft, replacing the steam catapults used aboard the Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers. According to the navy, the system was designed to provide greater control and efficiency, reduced manpower and maintenance requirements, and the ability to launch a wider range of aircraft, including unmanned platforms.
The advanced weapons elevators on the Ford class similarly use newer technology to move weapons between the carrier’s magazines and flight deck. The memorandum calls for these systems to be replaced with hydraulic elevators alongside the return to steam catapults.
CVN-81 is currently under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding. The carrier, which is to be named USS Doris Miller, is the fourth ship of the Ford class. The order comes as work on the carrier and its launch systems is already underway, potentially creating additional engineering, integration and scheduling requirements.
The policy also targets Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), with a 120-day deadline for a review and recommendations aimed at reducing bureaucracy, increasing accountability and preventing redesigns that contribute to delays and cost growth.
Taken together, the measures seek to increase the number of shipyards and suppliers available to the Navy while relying more heavily on mature designs and established technologies. At the same time, the planned change to CVN-81 would require the Navy to revisit one of the most prominent technological features of the Ford-class design, shifting the carrier back toward the steam and hydraulic architecture used on earlier generations of US aircraft carriers.