Aircraft Carrier Crossword - Navy officials were "surprised," a spokesman told me Thursday, of President Donald Trump's suggestion that the Navy abandon a long-planned digital launch in favor of steam for its new aircraft carriers.
The American magazine described Trump's dislike of the Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System, called EMALS, on the USS.
Aircraft Carrier Crossword
(he released only excerpts of the interview, not the full text.) The President explained that he wanted to abandon EMALS, the major technology development at the heart of the multibillion-dollar launch project, and return to steam operations.
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I said, "You don't use steam to make catapults anymore?" “No sir. I said, "Ah, how does it work?" "Lord, it's not good. It's not good. He has no power. You know, steam is just cruel. You see this book going and steam rising everywhere, airplanes being thrown into the air. It sounded bad to me. Digital. You are digital. What is digital? And it's so complicated, you'd have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And we said - and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said, "Which program do you want..." "Sir, we're stuck with digital." I said, “No, you're not. If you go to Goddamn Steam, digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more and it doesn't help."
What is digital? To answer the President's question without going into too many 0's and 1's, "digital" means using a computer to make something happen. You know, the same kind of machine that connects us all to the Internet. Are you still with me, or are we going to bring Einstein here? (I mean, Einstein did amazing work and is getting more and more recognition.) EMALS is not just computer based, it uses a linear inference engine. This engine, which uses electric currents to activate a magnetic core, propels the carriage down the rails to launch the aircraft, rather than using steam piston propulsion to pull the aircraft.
Despite Trump's technological inclinations — he's TV-savvy, an Internet neophyte, and has a preternatural sense of the Twitter game — his questioning of "digital" calls to mind his ignorance of Internet security.
It's not like EMALS has been a resounding success. Cost and schedule overruns earned the Navy carrier project a reputation as "one of the most spectacular acquisition failures in recent memory," as Arizona Republican Senator John McCain put it in 2015. "And that's saying something." Construction of the three Ford division aircraft companies has grown from $27 billion to $36 billion over the past 10 years.
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But the problems with the Ford-class carrier system are more organizational than technical -- a common theme in major infrastructure projects. McCain blamed the "poor alignment of accountability and responsibility in our defense procurement system" and the size of the defense procurement program affecting bureaus and program managers.
Trump appears to have capitalized on the project's bad reputation without acknowledging the difficulty of moving from Steam to digital -- or at least without explicitly stating it.
Steam powered catapult systems to be modified have been used to launch American airplanes for nearly sixty years. Steam systems are less difficult to maintain than electric ones; They have a low combat time cap - meaning the power systems can launch more aircraft in less time. Electric systems can also handle small planes and drones better than steam. Steam systems also put more stress on airframes, making them more susceptible to corrosion. Not only that, but the carriers themselves are extremely vulnerable to attack - which means that equipping them with modern defense systems is a priority.
The purpose of this advanced program is to use the launchers to "build a mobile honeycomb of connected forces with range, scope and threat against air, sea, surface and land-based targets," as Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake advocated on the website Breaking Defense 2015.
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Despite some high-profile failures in early testing, EMALS is now nearly complete and ready for sea trials. It is one of three major steps in the Navy's effort to develop its weapons systems for the digital age.
Trump's insistence on steam is perhaps puzzling, but it is also consistent with his other views on technology. After all, the president has repeatedly talked about returning to the age of manufacturing in America -- a ridiculous idea, unfortunately, for anyone who has looked closely at the forces driving the global economy. Among them: the rise of automation, which promises to dramatically change the way people work in many industries, and which Trump has not ignored.
On the other hand, for someone who is clearly concerned about size, one might think that Trump might enjoy EMALS: With efficiency, the system can launch anything from a sleek drone to a super-tough F-35, and it blows away those technical reserves. Restrictions on Steam. Trump has shown his love for supercarriers, announcing plans to increase the US fleet from 10 to 12.
However, he did not specify how he intends to pay for it. The cost of Ford's new advanced jet -- about $11 billion without additional costs -- will eat up about 20 percent of Trump's proposed defense budget, Reuters reported in March.
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The military says it is trying to figure out how to deal with the president's concerns. The spokesperson said that they will issue a statement on Thursday afternoon and identify the speeches of the marine leaders if the issue comes up at public events.
In the meantime, Trump would do well to think more about his campaign's infrastructure promise than the near-perfect military project he seems to have misunderstood.
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