"Steam Winner": Trump Airlines' obsession causes collision with Navy and Congress

President Donald Trump reinforces pressure on the Navy to return to the era of steam catapults launching jets from aircraft carriers – a multibillion dollar turn that could take almost two decades and would likely cause a conflict with Congress.

Trump spent two years criticizing the Navy's decision to switch to an electromagnetic launch system for its all-new class of aircraft carriers, citing delays in deploying the technology and complaining that "it is you have to be Albert Einstein to understand it. " During his stay in Japan, he was obsessed with old technology during his visit to Japan, announcing to members of the US service that he was planning to order the Navy to equip all its new carriers with steam catapults.

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"So I think I'll place an order: when we build a new aircraft carrier, we'll use steam," Trump told sailors and Marines aboard the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault base , at a naval base south of Tokyo, He reiterated his complaint that the new technology may not be reliable during the battle. "We spend all this money on electricity, and no one knows what it will be in bad conditions."

The president was blunt during an interview with Time magazine in May 2017, in which he boasted of telling his military commanders:[You’re] go to the fucking steam. "

The navy chose not to comment on Trump's last remarks, but to refer all questions to the White House. The White House, meanwhile, did not answer the question of whether Trump would formally order the Navy to abandon its new electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

This is the Navy's usual response to Trump's periodic remarks on catapults, even as the admirals respected the new technology. Navy experts told POLITICO that this time they feel different. They also point out that several carriers already built with electromagnetic catapults, at a cost of $ 11-13 billion per ship, could be sold 15 years before the Navy can even launch a new carrier equipped with engines. Steam – even if Congress had to approve the change.

Trump's comments "seem much more interventionist than he's been on this issue in the past," said Bryan Clark, retired Navy officer, who was senior advisor to the chief of the naval operations.

Even if Trump ordered a return to steam, "there are a lot of things that have to happen at the Pentagon so that the desire of the president becomes a requirement," added Clark, who is now a senior member of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Center. . Assessments.

He pointed out that the following two carriers of the class that the Navy was building in the Gerald R. Ford class, the Kennedy and the Enterprise, were too advanced in construction, which would amount to a "redesign" of the entire carrier. Indeed, the Ford class ships do not have steam piping throughout the length of the ship and they also plan to use electromagnetic energy for other future systems, such as lasers and railway guns.

"In ten years, you could possibly return to steam catapults," with the construction of the next carrier after the Enterprise, Clark said. This unnamed carrier is not yet under construction and is expected to join the fleet in 2032.

It could take even longer, said Thomas Callender, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, who was a Navy Officer and then a civilian in the Department of the Navy. "If you are serious and you are trying to abandon the electromagnetic system … it will be 15 years from now and it would be even more expensive to make this major overhaul of the aircraft carrier," he said.

The Navy "can not simply go back and build another Nimitz class carrier, designed in the late '60s," Callender said. "The Navy is committed to this plan and going back will be more expensive in the long run, even if you have better reliability in the first place," Trump said hopefully.

But Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy officer, suggested that Trump could be on the right track in terms of cost reduction. "It's not a bad thing to try to go back to a cheaper method," he said. "The Navy thinks that in the 50 years of the ship's life it will be cheaper to use the Ford class, but that has not been proven."

It's "a good thing that a commander-in-chief is taking a close interest in one aspect of the military," added Hendrix, who is now vice president of the Telemus group.

Even in this case, "there will be a setback," predicts Hendrix. And some of this resistance will not come directly from the navy but from a skeptical convention, said Clark and Callender.

While "Congress will continue to criticize the electromagnetic system alongside the president" because of cost overruns, Clark predicted that, in the end, lawmakers "will say what the Navy says, that this system is the only one in the world. 39; future. " This is because electromagnetic systems could make it easier to launch new generations of unmanned aircraft and even, eventually, to feed high defense self defense weapons.

"Nobody is seriously talking about trading EMALS with steam catapults – not even the US Navy, which has studied EMALS extensively and thinks that EMALS has significant advantages over steam," he said. said Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), using the acronym Navy. for the electromagnetic device launching system. "Redesigning Ford class carriers for steam catapults would require a complete overhaul of the Ford and the rebuilding of the industrial base for steam catapults, generating significant delays and cost overruns.

"This is not a workable proposition, and I do not expect Congress to accept this proposal and provide the funds needed to reinstate and redevelop the Ford class."

Trump has already asked the sailors about the system. On the Wasp, which does not use any type of catapult, Trump asks the crew what type of catapult he prefers. He mostly met shouts of "steam" and joked that a member of the team who shouted for the electrical system "works for the enemy".

This contrasts with Trump's response when he raised the issue during the last Thanksgiving visit during a public call with members of USS carrier Ronald Reagan. The ship's captain, a career fighter pilot, offered an extensive defense against electromagnetic catapults, which Trump acknowledged as "a very good answer".

General Atomics, which builds the electromagnetic system, declined to comment on Trump's latest news. remarks.

Since Trump's critique began two years after a visit to the USS Gerald R. Ford, senior naval officials have confirmed the choice of the new electromagnetic system. James Geurts, Deputy Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisitions, told Senators in November that the Navy had logged more than 740 launches using the new on board Ford system.

"We feel pretty confident about these two systems," he said, referring to the electromagnetic system and the new Advanced Arresting Gear system, a high-tech successor to the old hydraulic system that helps combat aircraft to slow down when they land on the carrier's deck.

"Are we happy to have done it with EMALS and Advanced Arresting Gear?" Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) Asked him, using the acronym of the Navy for the electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

"Yes, sir," said Geurts, pointing out that future air wings of transport aircraft will require the system for the launch of heavier aircraft.

On the other hand, a report from the Government Accountability Office released this month indicates that electromagnetic catapults and new equipment shutdown are being tested and that "the reliability of these systems remains a concern".

Marine Secretary Richard Spencer recently said in March that he was sticking to the new system. The electromagnetic catapult "is the most advanced, the most versatile and the most cost-effective launch system," he said. tweeted. "It's a very simple card game to use for carrier operations. No Einstein is necessary. "