USS John F Kennedy Begins Sea Trials as Trump Orders Steam Catapults for Next Aircraft Carrier
The USS John F Kennedy, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, left Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on 12 August to begin sea trials ahead of its planned handover in March 2027.
President Donald Trump, on the following day, signed a memorandum directing the Pentagon to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) from a different Ford-class carrier, the future USS Doris Miller, and fit steam catapults instead. The memorandum is titled Rebuilding the United States Navy and America’s Shipbuilding Industrial Base.
The document gives the Secretary of War, the administration’s title for the defence secretary, 60 days to submit a plan covering timelines and resourcing.
The…