President Trump has finally ordered the US Navy to return to using old steam catapults to launch its fighter jets.
Trump has long called for the military to return to the steam catapult system. On Thursday, he issued a directive to have the advanced system used to launch jets replaced on the Navy’s newest type of aircraft carrier, despite the move potentially costing billions of dollars.
The mandate orders the Pentagon and Navy to present plans to replace the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), a more advanced method of launching planes than the steam catapult system, on Ford-class carriers within two months.
Under the plans, the USS Doris Miller, the fourth Ford-class carrier, would be the first vessel of its class to include the new changes. Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford, as well as the upcoming USS John F. Kennedy and USS Enterprise, will remain untouched.
How the steam catapult works
A steam catapult uses superheated steam stored in tanks below an aircraft carrier’s flight deck. According to MiGFlug, that steam is then released into a pair of cylinders running below that same deck.
Each cylinder contains a piston, which itself is connected to a shuttle.
A shuttle is a form of metal fitting that connects with a jet’s nose gear.
The process causes the piston to rocket forward, dragging the plane along with it and taking it from being still to being at take-off speed in mere seconds.
EMALS use electricity to energise a series of electromagnets, which create a magnetic field that pulls a plane into motion. The system can be calibrated for each plane.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his preference for the steam system.
Trump revealed his EMALS grudge in 2017
Trump first revealed his grudge against EMALS in 2017, during an interview with Time magazine.
The president, who kicked off his first term that year, said the system was “very complicated” and even suggested that “you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out.”
Trump continued by saying that he told a Navy official: “You going to goddamned steam (sic), the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”
Polling personnel in Japan
Trump again described his love for steam catapults while addressing troops aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, back in May 2019.
The president polled personnel aboard the ship on their catapult preference, stating: “I really need this information.”
“And you know steam’s only worked for about 65 years perfectly,” he claimed.
Trump added, “And I won’t tell you this, because it’s before my time by a little bit, but they have a $900m cost overrun on this crazy electric catapult, I said, ‘What was wrong with steam?’ I would like to know.”
When an audience member shouted “electric” at Trump, the president quipped: “He works for the enemy.”
Trump’s steam obsession returns
Trump’s love of steam catapults has also been a recurrent theme during his second presidency.
Aboard the USS George Washington in October 2025, he said that he was planning to sign an executive order forcing the implementation of steam catapults.
“When we build aircraft carriers, it’s steam for the catapults and it’s hydraulic for the elevators,” he said. “We’ll never have a problem.”
Elevators aboard Navy vessels have also been linked to Trump’s EMALS grudge, with his executive order to implement steam catapults also calling for the Ford-class carrier’s electromagnetic weapons elevators to be replaced.
Army War College Defense Summit July 2026
In July, Trump once again threatened to bring back steam catapults, describing EMALS as “too complex.”
The president made the remarks while speaking at the U.S Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
“We’re not letting any more ships be built with the ridiculous billions of dollars more they spent on electric catapults, and they’re not good,” he said. “They’re not nearly as good – too complex.”
The commander-in-chief also complained about “magnetic elevators,” stating that he wanted them to be hydraulic.
