Dead Drop: August 16 - 22

YOU’VE GOT EMALS – NO WAIT! President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to figure out how to replace the Ford-class carrier’s electromagnetic catapults (called EMALS) with the steam technology they replaced — starting with CVN-81, the future USS Doris Miller. USNI News says the memo gives the Pentagon 60 days to produce a plan, including timelines and costs. EMALS replaced the steam catapults that launched carrier aircraft for seven decades. The first three Fords — Ford, John F. Kennedy and Enterprise — reportedly would keep it; but Doris Miller and subsequent carriers would go backward. The irony: according to Newsweek the Navy says electromagnetic catapults are more efficient, require fewer sailors and are easier and cheaper to maintain. They also reportedly provide more precise launches and less violent acceleration for aircraft. China’s newest carrier, Fujian, chose EMALS too. Then came the second throwback. The Washington Post reported on Saturday that, at the President’s request, the Navy is also considering moving the Ford-class carrier’s island — the command tower — from its current position near the stern toward the middle of the ship, making it look more like a WWII carrier. The aft location isn't an aesthetic accident: it creates more aircraft parking space and reduces turbulence during landings. Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute, who studied the idea during Trump's first term, told the Post the move would require an extensive redesign affecting the ship's weight and buoyancy. An earlier Pentagon study reportedly put the price in the billions and added years to construction. And that's the real problem: the Navy already has too few carriers to meet its commitments (ask the crew of the Abraham Lincoln.) Every year added to Doris Miller's construction schedule is another year of asking other carrier crews to stay at sea longer waiting for relief. Let’s hope someone doesn’t get the idea to go back to wooden decks on carriers next.

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