US Navy Weighs Costly Aircraft Carrier Redesign to Match Trump’s Preferences
The U.S. Navy is evaluating a potential redesign of its Ford-class aircraft carriers to shift their command towers forward, responding to preferences expressed by President Donald Trump to mimic older World War II-era vessel aesthetics, according to seven current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
This operational and technical evaluation, which began on August 16, 2026, forces the military to balance presidential design priorities against severe engineering and financial constraints. Relocating the multistory command structure—known as the island—threatens to introduce multi-billion-dollar cost overruns and major schedule delays across a ship class where individual hulls are projected to cost $22 billion each.
Evaluating the Structural Shift of the Ford-Class Island
On current Ford-class carriers like the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the island sits roughly 30 percent smaller and 42.7 meters farther aft than on older Nimitz-class ships. According to details from Army Recognition, this far-aft placement creates a large, uninterrupted aircraft-working area between the bow catapults, waist catapults, and elevators, allowing fighter jets to be parked, fueled, and armed without interfering with landings.
Shifting that structure 140 feet forward toward amidships would alter the ship’s buoyancy and weight distribution. Bryan Clark, a former Navy officer who studies the service at the Hudson Institute, noted in reporting by The Washington Post that such an alteration would be highly disruptive. “You could change it, but it’s very disruptive,” Clark said.
Previous Navy analyses conducted during Trump’s first term concluded that moving the island would incur extraordinary expenses and significant delays. When naval engineers reviewed similar modifications years ago, the feedback was clear. “It came back that the cost and time to do so would just be extraordinary,” a former senior U.S. official told The Washington Post.
Stacking Presidential Directives Against Industrial Realities
The island evaluation follows a separate national security memorandum issued by Trump on August 13, directing the Navy to plan for a return to steam-powered catapults on future carriers, replacing the advanced electromagnetic catapult system (EMALS) and advanced weapons elevators on the future USS Doris Miller. Administration officials emphasize a preference for proven and affordable technologies, though multiple officials caution that reverting propulsion and launch systems will further exacerbate chronic delays in the U.S. shipbuilding sector.
With up to 10 Ford-class carriers planned for construction over the next four decades, these directives place pressure on defense contractors and naval engineers.
Three Ford-class ships are currently in various stages of development. The USS John F. Kennedy is undergoing sea trials, while the USS Enterprise and USS Doris Miller remain under construction following the lead ship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, which recently completed a combat tour in the Middle East.
As the Pentagon and the Navy defer direct comments to the White House regarding the architectural changes, the service must determine whether the projected design modifications produce enough operational gain to justify remodifying a mature aircraft carrier configuration.