Navy looking into warship redesigns as part of Trump requests

The United States Navy is potentially redesigning incoming aircraft vessels to better align with President Trump's preferred aesthetic.

The maritime branch is considering the shift on Ford-class ships to match the president's preference for the new aircraft carriers to resemble the World War II-era, according to a Saturday report from the Washington Post.

The changes -- including moving the multistory aircraft carrier's command center tower to the ship's middle -- would cost billions and worsen chronic delays, sources said.

Officials also told The Post that changing the command center to the middle would remove 3 key benefits: additional parking spaces, reduced launch time and lowered chances of turbulence during landing.

The construction timeline for aircraft carriers is long as the USS Gerald R. Ford, the lead Ford class carrier, took 17 years to construct due to delays new technology incorporation took. The ship debuted the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) catapult which the Navy credited as being highly effective.

The White House released a national security memorandum Thursday that outlined other changes such as reverting another ship's EMALS to steam power to "fix critical long-term issues in Navy shipbuilding."

General Atomics, a California-based firm that secured a $1.2 billion contract to build the EMALS for the other ship, said the decision not to proceed with EMALS on that ship "warrants careful reconsideration."

"With nearly 50 percent of production complete, changing course now would introduce significant cost, schedule and integration risks," the company said Thursday.

Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, added that steam catapults are no longer in production and the Navy bought the last set 20 years ago.

The potential changes could result in delays at a time when demand has soared for the ships because of the ongoing war in Iran.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has been docked in the Middle East for over 260 days with Senate and House Democrats questioning conditions aboard the ship. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote a letter Wednesday to Defense Secretary Hegseth and acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao to express "serious concerns" about the Lincoln.