The U.S. Navy is considering whether to move the command "island" on Ford-class aircraft carriers toward the middle of the flight deck, as President Donald Trump has pushed for new carriers to more closely resemble World War II-era warships.
Ford Design Prioritizes Faster Flight-Deck Operations
According to a report by The Washington Post, the review is part of a broader reassessment of carrier design choices. The island houses navigation, tactical command and flight-deck control.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Ford’s smaller island "greatly affects sortie generation rates," while the Navy says the class was engineered to increase aircraft-launch tempo over Nimitz-class carriers.
Former Navy maritime strategist Hunter Stires warned against changing that layout for appearance. "Warships are built to win in combat, not to win a beauty pageant," he told The Hill, arguing the island’s placement directly supports combat power.
Benzinga reached out to the Pentagon for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Trump Pushes Broader Carrier Design Changes
The review adds another potential redesign as Trump puts a personal stamp on naval shipbuilding. Benzinga previously reported that his "Golden Fleet" includes a new Trump-class battleship, while his broader "Maritime Golden Age" push seeks to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding capacity.
Last week, Trump ordered the Navy to replace the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, with steam catapults beginning with the fourth Ford-class carrier, USS Doris Miller. Reuters said the change could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump has called EMALS "too complex."
General Atomics, which makes EMALS, warned that changing course with nearly 50% of production complete would create "significant cost, schedule, and integration risks." The USS Gerald R. Ford had completed 36,863 EMALS launches by March, according to Pentagon records.
Carrier Construction Delays Raise Cost Concerns
The Ford has also played a prominent role in recent U.S. operations, including the Iran conflict, as Washington shifted naval forces toward the region.
Any island redesign would come as the Navy already struggles with construction schedules. The Congressional Budget Office said in April that Ford-class carriers are taking roughly 10 to 11 years to build, compared with seven to eight years for the Nimitz-class.
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