Navy Awards $49.3 Million Ford-Class Launch Support Deal Amid Doris Miller Steam Review

Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Kato Engineering a sole-source, five-year contract worth up to $49,260,781 to sustain the energy-storage subsystems used by the Ford class’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity award covers engineering, configuration management, supply-shortage work, repairs, overhauls, logistics, technical support and lifecycle sustainment.

The award comes as the Navy prepares a plan for replacing EMALS with steam catapults aboard the future USS Doris Miller, or CVN-81. It does not settle whether that carrier will retain its electromagnetic launch system: the contract supports Ford-class equipment generally, while the steam-conversion planning order concerns a specific carrier still under construction.

A contract ceiling, not an immediate $49.3 million outlay

The distinction matters for taxpayers. The contract’s $49.26 million figure is its maximum potential value, not money automatically spent on the award date. No funds were obligated at award; funding will be attached to individual task or delivery orders as requirements arise. Work is expected to continue through September 2031, primarily in North Mankato, Minnesota, with additional work in Portsmouth, Virginia, and Lakehurst, New Jersey.

That structure gives the Navy a standing mechanism for maintaining energy-storage hardware without committing the entire ceiling at once. It also reflects a basic sustainment requirement that exists independently of CVN-81’s final configuration. Ford-class carriers already using EMALS need engineering support, repairs, configuration control and help managing components that become scarce or obsolete.

In other words, continuing EMALS support does not by itself amount to a quiet cancellation of the steam study. It shows that the Navy cannot pause class-wide support while the Doris Miller question remains unresolved. Existing hardware must still be maintained, technical data kept current and supply disruptions addressed.

Steam is not a deck-level equipment swap

The more consequential cost question sits aboard USS Doris Miller. The Ford class was designed around electromagnetic launching, while the older Nimitz class used steam. Changing systems after production is well advanced would require engineering work beyond replacing visible flight-deck machinery because the launch architecture interacts with the ship’s internal infrastructure, support equipment, maintenance plan and personnel requirements.

USS Doris Miller was reportedly nearly 50% through production when the steam planning order was issued. That does not establish a conversion cost or prove that completed work would be discarded, but it raises the exposure: the later a fundamental architecture changes, the more existing design, production and integration work may have to be revisited.

General Atomics, the EMALS manufacturer, has warned that a switch could add cost, delay the carrier and create integration risks. Those are attributed projections rather than documented outcomes. The Navy has not released an official conversion cost or schedule estimate in the information available, and preparing a plan is not the same as approving or executing one.

Two industrial bases carry different costs

Keeping EMALS requires sustained support for its electrical, mechanical and energy-storage equipment, which is precisely what the Kato contract provides. Returning to steam presents a different industrial challenge. The Navy has not ordered a new steam catapult in roughly two decades; the last cited order supported USS George H.W. Bush, the final Nimitz-class carrier.

A steam decision would therefore involve more than selecting a familiar technology. Suppliers, manufacturing processes and specialized technical capabilities that have not supported a new order for years would have to be restored. That work could compete against the perceived benefit of returning to a proven system, while the Navy would still need to support EMALS aboard other Ford-class ships.

The operational trade also extends beyond procurement. The Navy says electromagnetic launching provides smoother acceleration, more precise launch-speed control, lower maintenance and staffing demands, and support for aircraft across a broader range of weights. Naval Air Systems Command describes the system as capable of launching platforms ranging from lightweight unmanned aircraft to heavy fighters. Those claims identify what would have to be evaluated against steam’s maturity, not proof that EMALS is cost-free or maintenance-free.

Sailors would inherit the maintenance and staffing consequences of whichever architecture is selected, while the future air wing would operate within its launch envelope. Taxpayers, meanwhile, could pay simultaneously for EMALS sustainment across the Ford class and for rebuilding steam-catapult capacity if CVN-81 is converted.

The next meaningful milestone is therefore not another routine EMALS order. It is a Navy plan that puts credible cost, schedule, redesign, workforce and air-wing consequences behind the steam proposal. Until those figures emerge, the Kato award confirms continued electromagnetic-system support but not the launch architecture USS Doris Miller will ultimately carry.

By David Whitaker — Associate editor for AMI’s aerospace and drone systems desk, translating flight systems, aircraft programs, spaceflight, and UAV developments into accessible technical stories.