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Politics21 outlets ran this5 min read

Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on new carriers

The directive reverses a modernisation programme and is expected to cost billions of dollars

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on new carriers

What this story says

  • President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to replace electromagnetic aircraft launch systems (EMALS) with steam catapults on its newest Ford-class carriers, starting with the USS Doris Miller.
  • The decision is expected to cost billions of dollars and will require more sailors to operate than the electromagnetic system, which the Navy has struggled to staff.
  • The move reverses a modernisation programme despite China and France adopting electromagnetic catapults for their latest carriers.
  • Congress will consider the funding for the change as part of broader defence budget negotiations in September.

Who covered it

Left 48%(10)Centre 42%(9)Right 10%(2)

Percentages are shares of the 21 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .

Trust

92/100

Craft

85/100

Hype

20/100

21 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

Only 2 of the 21 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) from its newest Ford-class aircraft carriers and replace it with steam catapults. The directive, issued on 13 August 2026, requires the Pentagon and the Navy to present plans for the change within two months. The USS Doris Miller, the fourth Ford-class carrier, will be the first to undergo the modification.

The decision is expected to cost billions of dollars. The electromagnetic system, which reduces the number of sailors needed to operate catapults from about a dozen to two, is easier to maintain and allows faster aircraft launches than steam catapults. The Navy has reported difficulty filling posts across its fleet, with approximately 20,000 unfilled positions at the start of 2026.

Trump has long criticised EMALS, calling it "not good" and lacking the power of steam catapults in a 2017 interview. The newest Chinese aircraft carriers use electromagnetic catapults, and France plans to adopt the system for its next carrier. General Atomics, the manufacturer of EMALS, said the decision "warrants careful reconsideration" and warned of "significant cost, schedule, and integration risks" as work on the Doris Miller’s catapults is already halfway complete.

The move comes as Congress prepares to debate defence funding, including a $95 billion package proposed by Republicans to fund the military and the war in Iran. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated the war’s cost at $37.5 billion. The House passed the funding bills in August, but the Senate has yet to act.

What the coverage left out

Neither of the right-rated digests mentioned the $37.5 billion cost estimate for the war in Iran or the fact that reverting to steam catapults will require more sailors. None of the centre-rated digests quoted Trump’s 2017 remark about steam catapults. The Associated Press and Washington Top News full reports were the only ones to quote General Atomics’ warning about the risks of changing course.

Tags:#USNavy#AircraftCarriers#DefenceBudget#TrumpAdministration#MilitaryModernisation

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 14 Aug 2026, 01:45, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is docked at Souda Naval Base near Chania on the island of Crete, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis).
Associated Press NewsLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

10 rated outlets

  • All ten left-rated digests led on the cost of the decision and the fact that it will increase the number of sailors required to operate the catapults. The Associated Press and Washington Top News, whose full reports are printed below, both quoted Trump’s 2017 remark that the Navy was "going to goddamned steam". The Associated Press report described the move as reverting to a system that is "more difficult to maintain".
  • Raw Story’s digest, citing the Wall Street Journal, called the decision a "billion-dollar order to rip out new Navy tech" that "hands enemies a gift". The Independent, Stuff, and Spiegel digests all noted that the move would cost billions. None of the left-rated digests omitted the fact that China and France are adopting electromagnetic catapults.

Centre

9 rated outlets

  • The nine centre-rated digests led on the directive itself and the timeline for the Navy to present plans. South China Morning Post and Political Wire digests both noted that the decision was made "despite opposition from many naval officers". Maritime Reporter and WTVB digests described the electromagnetic system as "complex".
  • Washington Top News, whose full report is printed below, quoted Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s estimate that the war in Iran has cost $37.5 billion. None of the centre-rated digests omitted the cost estimate or the fact that the change will require more sailors.

Right

2 rated outlets

  • Both right-rated digests led on the directive and the establishment of a fifth public shipyard. Welt’s digest linked the decision to complaints about conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is being replaced. Neither digest mentioned the cost estimate or the fact that the change will require more sailors to operate the catapults.

Read it at the source

21 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

10
Show 2 more

Centre

9
Show 1 more

Right

2

Not rated

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on…?
Of the 21 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 48% are rated left, 42% are rated centre, 10% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 21 rated outlets on this story, 48% are rated left, 42% are rated centre, 10% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on… biased?
Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on new carriers is one event reported by 21 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on…?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Trump orders US Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam on…?
21 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why is Trump ordering the Navy to replace electromagnetic catapults?
Trump ordered the replacement because he has long preferred steam catapults, calling the electromagnetic system "not good" in 2017. The decision reverses a modernisation programme despite the newer system requiring fewer sailors and being easier to maintain. The move is expected to cost billions of dollars.
How much will the change cost?
The decision to replace electromagnetic catapults with steam catapults is expected to cost billions of dollars. General Atomics, the manufacturer, warned that changing course now would introduce significant cost, schedule, and integration risks, as work on the USS Doris Miller is already halfway complete.
Which countries use electromagnetic catapults?
China’s newest aircraft carriers use electromagnetic catapults, and France plans to adopt the system for its next carrier. The US Navy’s decision to revert to steam catapults contrasts with these modernisation efforts by other naval powers.
What happens next with the funding?
Congress will consider the funding for the change as part of broader defence budget negotiations in September. The House has already passed a $95 billion package to fund the military and the war in Iran, but the Senate has yet to act.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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