NORFOLK, Va. — The idea with the USS Gerald R. Ford Class's electromagnetic launch system is to put more jets into the skies faster.
Retired Vice Admiral John Mazach told 13News Now in 2017 that the new system will generate one-third more sorties, with 25% fewer people.
"We need to be able to generate more sorties," said Mazach, the former Commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic. "We need to be able to cut down on the number of folks aboard the ship, because, folks equals money. EMALs has the ability to do what it is we need it to do."
President Donald J. Trump still isn't sold.
He'd previously said the system is so sophisticated it requires Albert Einstein to operate it.
This week, he doubled down.
"I think I'm going to put in an order," Trump told sailors aboard the USS Wasp. "When we build a new aircraft carrier, we're going to use steam. I'm going to put in an order. We're going to use steam."
The statement caught Pentagon leaders by surprise, including Assistant Secretary of Navy James Geurts. He said, while visiting the future USS John F. Kennedy at Newport News Shipbuilding that he believes in the system.
"I'm confident in EMALS," he said. "We've landed over 700 planes and recovered them."
Senate Armed Services Committee member Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to the world's only maker of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers - Newport News Shipbuilding, said although cost overruns are a concern, simply ditching EMALs isn't a smart move.
"Let's not just say we're going backward," the Democrat said. "I understand the President's motive, but I don't think we yet have the evidence to suggest we should throw out this innovation."
Meanwhile, the next carrier, the John F Kennedy, complete with EMALs technology, is set to be christened in November.