Sailors assigned to the flagship USS Gerald R. Ford man the rails while the Ford transits the Oslo fjord for its first port call in Oslo, Norway, May 24, 2023. (Jackson Adkins/U.S. Navy)
(Tribune News Service) — The Defense Department has awarded San Diego’s General Atomics a modified $1.2 billion contract to develop and test an Electronic Aircraft Launch System for a future Ford-class aircraft carrier.
The system, nicknamed EMALS, is meant to expand the ability of such carriers to launch all current and future aircraft, whether they’re unmanned aerial vehicles or heavy strike fighters, the Defense Department said.
The new EMALS contract will provide the launch system for the USS Doris Miller, a carrier that the Navy is scheduled to start building in 2026.
The Navy says it is shifting away from traditional steam catapults to the new electromagnetic system because they can launch a wider range of aircraft, will require less maintenance, and will reduce the fatigue that aircraft experience when launched.
The system was introduced on the USS Gerald R. Ford, a first-in-class carrier that was commissioned in 2017 and went on its first deployment last year. EMALS also will be used on the carrier USS John F. Kennedy, which will be delivered to the Navy in 2025.
It’s expected that Ford-class carriers will be stationed in San Diego in the future. The city is currently home to three older, Nimitz-class flattops.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
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