U.S President Trump Orders Pentagon To Consider Foreign-Built Warships & Steam Catapults

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a memorandum asking the Pentagon to expand naval shipbuilding by acquiring warships and auxiliary vessels built in other countries, citing limits of the U.S. industrial base, rising costs, and labour shortages.

Trump has urged the extended use of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Finland Model, under which two different classes of medium icebreakers are being built simultaneously in the U.S. and in Finland.

Under this model, foreign shipbuilders can construct the first two ships abroad, focusing on anti-submarine warfare frigates, RORO ships and replenishment tankers, given they manufacture all subsequent ships of the class in a U.S shipyard.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has been asked to deliver the execution plan to the White House along with OMB Director Russ Vought and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio.

Hegseth will also lead another plan along with top White House advisors, backed by a proposed $1.85 billion budget request to study ship purchases from Japan and South Korea.

The plan faces opposition from both Congress and domestic shipbuilders. Both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees introduced measures in their draft FY2027 defence policy bills to block the initiative.

The Senate revoked the commander-in-chief’s Title 10 national security waiver authority, and the House adopted an amendment by Representative Jared Golden to ban funding for foreign-built warships.

The Shipbuilders Council of America, headed by Matt Paxton, has openly opposed the concept of constructing hulls abroad, warning that diverting work away from the country’s yards would further undermine industrial capacity and people would lose their jobs.

Trump also ordered the Navy to stop using new electromagnetic launch systems (EMALS) and magnetic elevators on future aircraft carriers, starting with the USS Doris Miller (CVN-81).

Instead, the Navy must go back to older steam catapults and hydraulic elevators, with Trump calling the new technology too complicated and expensive.

However, the manufacturer of EMALS, General Atomics, warned that changing designs on CVN-81, which is already nearly half built, will cause delays and extra costs, even as competitors like China and France are adopting the electromagnetic technology. The first three carriers in the class will keep the electromagnetic systems.

Finally, the memo orders a 120-day study to speed up maintenance for nuclear submarines and carriers, including options to create a fifth public Navy Yard and greater use of private shipyards.

It also calls for major reforms at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to hold leaders accountable for slow deliveries and stop officials from constantly tweaking ship designs after building starts.