2026-08-14T18:34:40.715Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：卡安妮塔·艾耶
更新于1小时22分钟前
更新时间：2026年8月14日，美国东部时间下午2:37
发布时间：2026年8月14日，美国东部时间下午2:34
2026年3月2日，在地中海东部执行“史诗怒火”行动期间，一名水兵在杰拉尔德·R·福特号航母上引导F/A-18E“超级大黄蜂”战机起飞。 图片来源：美国海军/盖蒂图片社
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普已下令美国海军取消新型航母上的现代化电磁弹射系统，转而改用老式的蒸汽动力弹射装置——此举可能会让该航母造价增加数十亿美元，并将其部署时间推迟至2030年代末。
这项在周四公布的白宫备忘录和情况介绍手册中明确的指令，要求国防部长皮特·赫格斯瑟在60天内提交一份计划，为即将以“多丽丝·米勒号”命名的在建航母安装蒸汽弹射系统。
尽管白宫辩称此举将“解决长期存在的关键问题”，但海军专家告诉CNN，这种突然转变极不寻常。
美国最新型航母“杰拉尔德·R·福特号”搭载了名为EMALS的电磁弹射系统。不过，美国海军的10艘老式“尼米兹”级航母仍依赖蒸汽弹射器。
哈德逊研究所高级研究员布莱恩·克拉克补充说，这一举措将需要对已开工建造的“多丽丝·米勒号”进行重新设计。他告诉CNN，相关成本“可能高达数十亿美元”，还可能将这艘原定于2034年左右服役的航母的服役时间“推迟到下个十年末”。
克拉克表示，电磁弹射系统类似于高速列车，“要简单得多”。而蒸汽弹射器则拥有更多部件，比如阀门、压力调节器和活塞。
“电磁系统操作更简单，在人员和维护方面成本更低。因此，福特级航母每年可为海军节省1亿美元，”克拉克说道。
当记者置评请求时，白宫发言人指示CNN查阅情况介绍手册，其中辩称该备忘录旨在“解决海军造船和舰船维修项目中长期存在的关键问题”。
2026年3月2日，在地中海执行“史诗怒火”行动期间，一架F/A-18F“超级大黄蜂”战机在“杰拉尔德·R·福特号”航母甲板上降落。 图片来源：美国海军/盖蒂图片社
资深记者、海军问题播客主持人克里斯·卡瓦斯曾亲身参与过电磁弹射和蒸汽弹射的起飞操作，他认为这份备忘录“是非常陈旧的思维，太过时了”。
“我可以凭亲身经历告诉你，两者的区别很明显，电磁弹射更平稳，”卡瓦斯谈及电磁系统时说道，“它对战机的结构应力要小得多。”
卡瓦斯和克拉克都表示，海军如今面临着寻找蒸汽弹射器制造商的后勤难题。卡瓦斯告诉CNN，尽管电磁弹射系统已有合同供应商，但海军过去曾自行建造蒸汽弹射器。
“自乔治·H·W·布什号航母以来，我们就再也没有制造过新的蒸汽弹射器了，”卡瓦斯说道，他指的是2009年服役的那艘航母，“那已经是很久以前的事了，所有相关生产设施都已不复存在。”
克拉克同样表示：“现在没人再生产蒸汽弹射器了。美国境内已经没有蒸汽弹射器制造商了，因此他们必须重启这条生产线，启动生产就要花费数千万美元，而且重新开工并制造第一台弹射器需要数年时间。”
克拉克补充道，“多丽丝·米勒号”的推迟服役，加上“尼米兹”级航母的退役，可能意味着美国海军在下个十年“将面临航母运载能力严重不足的问题”。
民主党参议员马克·凯利曾是海军上校，他在周四的X平台帖子中批评了这份备忘录：“我曾数百次从航母甲板上弹射起飞，拥有航空工程硕士学位，还是一名试飞员，但即便如此，我也不会向海军建议如何设计其舰船的特定系统。”
“唐纳德·特朗普应该专注于他最擅长的事情——宴会厅、破产和胡说八道，”他补充道。
CNN已联系为“杰拉尔德·R·福特号”制造EMALS电磁弹射系统、原本也将为“多丽丝·米勒号”提供同款系统的通用原子公司征求置评意见。
‘Very outdated’: Trump’s directive to revert to steam catapults on new aircraft carrier baffles naval experts
2026-08-14T18:34:40.715Z / CNN
By Kaanita Iyer
Updated 1 hr 22 min ago
Updated Aug 14, 2026, 2:37 PM ET
PUBLISHED Aug 14, 2026, 2:34 PM ET
A sailor signals the launch of an F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford while operating in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 2, 2026 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
From US Navy/Getty Images
President Donald Trump has directed the US Navy to scrap the modern electromagnetic launch system on an upcoming aircraft carrier and instead revert to an older, steam-powered catapult method — potentially adding billions to its price tag and delaying its deployment into the late 2030s.
The directive, outlined in a White House memo and fact sheet released Thursday, orders Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a plan within 60 days to install the catapult systems on on a carrier being built that is slated to take on the name the USS Doris Miller.
While the White House argues the move will “fix critical long-term issues,” naval experts tell CNN the sudden shift is highly unusual.
The newest US aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was built with an electromagnetic launching system known as EMALS. However, the US Navy’s 10 older carriers, the Nimitz class, still rely on steam-powered catapults.
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, added that the move would require the USS Doris Miller, which is already under construction, to be redesigned. The cost of that, he told CNN, “will probably be into the billions” and it could delay the carrier — which was expected to be in service around 2034 — “until the end of the next decade.”
The electromagnetic system is similar to a high-speed rail train, making it “a lot simpler,” according to Clark. Meanwhile, the steam catapult has a lot more parts, such as valves, pressure regulators and pistons, he said.
“The electromagnetic ones have proven themselves to be easier to operate and less expensive in terms of personnel and maintenance. So the Navy has saved $100 million a year on the Ford class carrier,” Clark said.
When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson directed CNN to the fact sheet, which argues that the memorandum aims to “fix critical long-term issues in Navy shipbuilding and ship repair programs.”
An F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft lands on the deck of USS Gerald R. Ford while operating in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 2, 2026 in the Mediterranean Sea.
From US Navy/Getty Images
Chris Cavas, a veteran journalist and the host of a podcast on naval issues who said he’s been on launches that have used EMALS and steam catapult, argued that the memo “is very old thinking, very outdated.”
“I can tell you firsthand, you can feel the difference and the difference is that it’s smoother,” Cavas said of the electromagnetic system. “It’s much less stress on the aircraft.”
Cavas and Clark also said that the Navy now faces the logistical issue of finding a manufacturer of steam catapults. Cavas told CNN that while EMALS are contracted, the Navy used to build steam catapults itself.
“They haven’t had to make new steam catapults since the George H. W. Bush,” Cavas said, referring to the aircraft carrier that entered service in 2009. “That’s a long time ago and all that infrastructure is gone.”
Similarly, Clark said, “Nobody builds them anymore. There’s no steam catapult manufacturers in the … US anymore so they’d have to restart that production line, which would cost tens of millions of dollars to get going and that’ll be, it’ll take years to start that up again and build the first catapult.”
The USS Doris Miller’s delay, along with the retirements of carriers in the Nimitz class, could mean the US Navy will “be very short on carrying capacity” next decade, Clark added.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, criticized the memo in a post on X on Thursday, saying, “I’ve launched off the front of aircraft carriers hundreds of times, have a Master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, and am a test pilot and even I wouldn’t suggest to the Navy how to engineer specific systems on its ships.”
“Donald Trump should stick to what he knows best — ballrooms, bankruptcy, and bullshit,” he added.
CNN has reached out to General Atomics — which made EMALS for the USS Gerald Ford and was set to do the same for the USS Doris Miller — for comment.
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