“You know, the new thing is magnets. So instead of using hydraulic that can be hit by lightning and it’s fine. You take a little glass of water, you drop it on magnets, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Which is 100 percent correct… you can drop a single drop of tap water onto a magent, and it will corrode. This is nothing new to aquarium enthusiasts.
Did he say it like a dumbass? Yes. Is he a dumbass? Yes. But there is truth to what he’s saying. Criticisms of the man should be strategic and pointed, otherwise you risk discrediting yourself to right wingers.
You’re sane-washing a madman. It’s like when he suggested piping UV light into your veins to cure COVID… Yes, purifying blood using UV is a real area of research, but his take away is nonsense. You have to squint, change half the concept, and then ignore all practical considerations to make that make sense
Pay attention to what he’s actually suggesting - replacing our extremely advanced magnetic launch system with hydronics. They would have way more parts, fail more catastrophically, and would not be able to launch nearly as much weight
This is not a serious option… It’s a misunderstanding of something thrown out in a brainstorm
USS Ford’s launch and recovery gear are electromagnetically actuated, a departure from the steam-operated Nimitz-class carriers. The new designs were developed and installed because they promised longer intervals between maintenance and higher sortie generation rates. Though the Navy remains upbeat about Ford’s capabilities, these gains have proven elusive.
“The reliability of CVN 78 catapults, arresting gear, and jet blast deflectors (JBDs) continues to have an adverse effect on sortie generation and flight operations efficiency,” noted DOT&E in an annual report released in mid-January. “The ongoing reliability problems with these critical subsystems remains the primary risk to the successful completion of CVN 78 [initial operational testing and evaluation].”
The carrier’s Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) has similar challenges. The AAG is supposed to cycle 16,500 times between failures, but in recent testing it has broken down after roughly 450 cycles.
Belowdecks, the Ford’s Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) elevator system remains a source of trouble. During a weapons onload in September, the lower stage elevators performed more quickly than those on a Nimitz-class carrier, DOT&E said; however, 109 elevator failures were reported out of about 20,000 elevator dispatches. “AWE system reliability will be critical as the Navy develops standard procedures for moving ordnance from magazines to the flight deck,” noted DOT&E.
In a first ordnance-handling test, the advanced weapons elevators on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), America’s new, $13.3 billion supercarrier, offered little to no meaningful improvement over the legacy elevator systems aboard America’s venerable $5 billion Nimitz class carriers.
Crew claimed they “were able to run ammo downstairs in the magazines much quicker because we were able to put extra weight on the elevator, able to run it down quicker, which means you have to run those cycles a lot less.”
That sounds great, but unbiased analysis of the Ford’s performance during the carrier’s initial two-and-a-half day ammunition onload cycle suggests the Navy has yet to take full advantage of Ford’s eleven faster and stronger elevators. Put bluntly, all the high-tech electromagnetic elevators aboard the USS Ford failed to translate into a faster ordnance onload cycle. It calls a primary pillar of the Ford’s business case—that new ammunition handling techniques would yield vast performance benefits and make the ship less vulnerable—into question.
Those articles are from 2022, when they were still shaking things out in real world usage. Since then the bugs have been slowly but consistently ironed out. It happens every time with defense development these days.
They’re looking to expand use of the system, because it is just all around better. There’s fewer parts, it’s faster, smaller, and lighter. That means smaller aircraft carriers
This is a non issue, Trump just doesn’t like “electric”. And yeah, I’m sure he heard about problems in development and latched onto that in his first term, but really it’s about rare earth magnets from China… Which these systems use, along with just about everything else these days
Not to mention, these systems are smaller and lighter
… is it even possible to retrofit a steam launch system on the all electric carriers built around this?
Since then the bugs have been slowly but consistently ironed out.
This just came straight out your ass. Where can you find a source for this? Show me anything that corroborates. Yall are just digging in now thay you know youre wrong. Its obvious that you are completely oblivious to the throws of this recent carrier class and the associated new technologies - which have been consistently problematic for years now.
If you actually read those articles you just linked, you’ll find the titles are click bait. The program has massive cost overruns, just like the F35. And similarly, it’s had issues, but the F35 is an incredibly advanced aircraft now
But the navy expects to hit the promised performance metrics by 2030. They’re moving forward with the program, even considering expanding it into ground based systems
The navy can indeed fix their electronic catapults, I don’t know if that last one is AI or what, but the entire article is a huge puff piece about the advantages of the ship
🚢 The USS Gerald R. Ford is the world’s largest and most technologically advanced aircraft carrier, powered by nuclear reactors.
💡 Featuring the groundbreaking Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), it enhances sortie rates and minimizes airframe stress.
🌍 As a key element of U.S. naval strategy, it plays a significant role in global power projection and deterrence efforts.
🛠 Despite facing construction challenges and budget overruns, it remains adaptable to future technologies like advanced drones.
And another piece of the business insider article
The inclusion of the elevators and EMALS was paired with overall ship layout changes as well.
This relates to my other point… Is it even possible to retrofit a steam system on the Ford and Kennedy?
President Donald Trump has previously been critical of both the catapults and the weapons elevators on the Ford, expressing concern about the use of magnets in the advanced technology.
The Navy officials who testified before Congress Tuesday said the “Navy and shipbuilder HII-NNS are hyper-focused on a CVN 79 delivery plan that results in the fastest path to a combat ready CVN, crew, and air wing.”
So yeah. There’s been problems, the budget is out of control, but the tech is only improving
If only there was something that could be done to prevent the corrosion, like coating them or using them inside a sealed mechanism. It’s not trumps job to tell engineers who are infinitely more intelligent than him how to do their job.
It could be because he said it like this:
Which is 100 percent correct… you can drop a single drop of tap water onto a magent, and it will corrode. This is nothing new to aquarium enthusiasts.
Did he say it like a dumbass? Yes. Is he a dumbass? Yes. But there is truth to what he’s saying. Criticisms of the man should be strategic and pointed, otherwise you risk discrediting yourself to right wingers.
You’re sane-washing a madman. It’s like when he suggested piping UV light into your veins to cure COVID… Yes, purifying blood using UV is a real area of research, but his take away is nonsense. You have to squint, change half the concept, and then ignore all practical considerations to make that make sense
Pay attention to what he’s actually suggesting - replacing our extremely advanced magnetic launch system with hydronics. They would have way more parts, fail more catastrophically, and would not be able to launch nearly as much weight
This is not a serious option… It’s a misunderstanding of something thrown out in a brainstorm
This remains to be seen. In fact, the opposite is proving true.
https://maritime-executive.com/article/report-carrier-uss-ford-s-electromagnetic-systems-still-need-work
https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2022/10/14/in-a-first-deployment-test-uss-ford-fails-to-beat-nimitz-class-benchmarks/
Those articles are from 2022, when they were still shaking things out in real world usage. Since then the bugs have been slowly but consistently ironed out. It happens every time with defense development these days.
They’re looking to expand use of the system, because it is just all around better. There’s fewer parts, it’s faster, smaller, and lighter. That means smaller aircraft carriers
This is a non issue, Trump just doesn’t like “electric”. And yeah, I’m sure he heard about problems in development and latched onto that in his first term, but really it’s about rare earth magnets from China… Which these systems use, along with just about everything else these days
Not to mention, these systems are smaller and lighter … is it even possible to retrofit a steam launch system on the all electric carriers built around this?
This just came straight out your ass. Where can you find a source for this? Show me anything that corroborates. Yall are just digging in now thay you know youre wrong. Its obvious that you are completely oblivious to the throws of this recent carrier class and the associated new technologies - which have been consistently problematic for years now.
2025:
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-still-struggling-with-elevators-on-ford-aircraft-carriers-2025-4
2025:
https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-new-ford-class-aircraft-carriers-have-a-warning-for-the-u-s-navy/
2025:
https://www.energy-reporters.com/news/they-spent-13-billion-on-a-mistake-uss-gerald-fords-electromagnetic-catapults-keep-failing-and-navy-cant-fix-them/?hl=en-US#%3A~%3Atext=A+key+feature+of+this%2Cby+reducing+stress+on+aircraft.
If you actually read those articles you just linked, you’ll find the titles are click bait. The program has massive cost overruns, just like the F35. And similarly, it’s had issues, but the F35 is an incredibly advanced aircraft now
But the navy expects to hit the promised performance metrics by 2030. They’re moving forward with the program, even considering expanding it into ground based systems
The navy can indeed fix their electronic catapults, I don’t know if that last one is AI or what, but the entire article is a huge puff piece about the advantages of the ship
And another piece of the business insider article
This relates to my other point… Is it even possible to retrofit a steam system on the Ford and Kennedy?
So yeah. There’s been problems, the budget is out of control, but the tech is only improving
If only there was something that could be done to prevent the corrosion, like coating them or using them inside a sealed mechanism. It’s not trumps job to tell engineers who are infinitely more intelligent than him how to do their job.
Giving rare earth magnets a waterproof coating is nothing new. They are still extremely susceptible to corrosion, especially in seawater applications.