Trump Overhauls U.S. Naval Strategy: Foreign Shipbuilding Permits and Return to Steam Catapults

In a sweeping shift of American defense procurement policy, President Trump has signed a national security memorandum that fundamentally alters how the United States Navy acquires its fleet. For decades, U.S. law has strictly mandated that primary naval vessels be constructed within domestic shipyards to safeguard military secrets and bolster the American industrial base. However, the new directive marks a historic departure, permitting foreign shipbuilders to construct U.S. Navy ships outside the country for the first time in many years.

This policy shift is not a blanket opening of the market but rather a strategic trade-off. Under the terms of the memorandum, foreign shipbuilding firms can obtain temporary permits to build up to two vessels at their overseas parent yards, provided they make "significant and long-term investments" in the United States. The administration expects these firms to create high-quality jobs and implement comprehensive training programs for the American workforce, essentially trading construction contracts for the revitalization of domestic skills.

The move comes as a response to a deepening crisis in the U.S. maritime industrial sector. The memorandum explicitly acknowledges that domestic shipbuilding capacity has become uncompetitive and insufficient, resulting in massive order backlogs across six major naval projects. The erosion of the industrial base, coupled with a shrinking network of specialized suppliers, has led to a vicious cycle of escalating costs and chronic delivery delays that threaten national security readiness.

To further address these systemic weaknesses, President Trump has directed the Secretary of War to oversee the establishment of a fifth naval shipyard. This project, aimed at enhancing the maintenance and repair capabilities for submarines and aircraft carriers, represents the first time in over 80 years that the United States has expanded its official naval shipyard infrastructure.

Parallel to these industrial changes, the administration is implementing a controversial reversal in carrier technology. President Trump has ordered the U.S. Navy to abandon the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which he described as overly complex and underperforming. In its place, the Navy will return to the traditional steam catapult system. This decision directly impacts the USS Doris Miller, the fourth ship of the Ford-class carriers, which will now be retrofitted with steam technology instead of the electromagnetic systems used in its predecessors.

The President's skepticism toward EMALS stems from a history of technical glitches on the lead ship, the USS Gerald R. Ford. Trump has frequently criticized the system for being prohibitively expensive and less reliable than the legacy steam technology. He recently highlighted anecdotes from military personnel who argued that steam catapults are far easier to maintain in the field, suggesting that they can be repaired with basic tools like hammers and blowtorches, whereas EMALS requires highly specialized technical intervention.

However, this decision contradicts the Navy's 2009 rationale for adopting EMALS. At the time, the electromagnetic system was chosen because it promised lower life-cycle costs, reduced physical stress on aircraft, and a smaller crew requirement. Indeed, the USS Gerald R. Ford's annual maintenance costs are approximately $100 million lower than those of the Nimitz-class carriers, largely because EMALS requires fewer technicians. Furthermore, the French Navy has already successfully integrated similar electromagnetic technology into its fleet.

The pivot back to steam is expected to incur substantial financial penalties. General Atomics, the manufacturer of the EMALS, has warned that since the construction of the USS Doris Miller is nearly 50% complete, changing the launch system now will introduce significant integration risks, lead to project delays, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Pentagon has been given a 60-day window to submit a comprehensive plan for the removal of the electromagnetic systems.