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Title: Trump Wants Steam, Dammit, Not This Newfangled Digital Stuff
Source:
Normangee Star
URL Source: http://normangeestar.net/2017/05/12 ... this-newfangled-digital-stuff/
Published: May 12, 2017
Author: Madeline Patrick
Post Date: 2017-05-12 10:32:15 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 1175
Comments: 1
Trump is insisting that the service return to installing steam catapults in place of the state-of-the-art Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) that were developed for the Gerald R. Ford-class super carriers. Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published today, said he received a negative report about EMALS during his trip to the Gerald Ford (CVN-78) on March 2. Trump said: “It sounded bad to me”. “Digital. They have digital“. Trump then claimed only Albert Einstein could figure out how to use digital technology to replace the steam-powered launch system for the next generation of Ford-class carriers. And I said, and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said what system are you going to be- ‘Sir, we’re staying with digital.’ I said no you’re not. “You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good”. “This event marks the first time in over 50 years that the Navy has been able to launch a carrier-based aircraft using a system other than steam”, the company said at the time, calling it an “extraordinary accomplishment”. They say it offers a number of advantages over steam-powered catapults now used on Nimitz-class carriers. The Navy had no immediate comment. The Navy has not made any response so far. A Pentagon official said Mr Trump’s comments surprised defence officials and were inaccurate. I said, ‘What system are you going to be-‘ ‘Sir, we’re staying with digital.’ I said, ‘No you’re not. “I think he either has time-late information, or the information he has is not correct”. The pricetag for the three Ford-class aircraft carriers ballooned from $27 billion to $36 billion in the past decade, and the project is behind schedule in part because of the EMALS system, as The Atlantic reported. Sen. The White House did not respond Thursday to a request for more information about the president’s frustrations. Just a couple of years ago, tests showed that EMALS failed 1 out of every 240 launches. Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and defense analyst with the Center for a New American Security, said Thursday that Trump’s criticism “has merit”, but that numerous issues that initially were raised about the the digital catapult already have been resolved. “The President is making the commander in chief’s intent that, at some future point, we may shift back to the easier, more affordable steam catapult system”, Hendrix said. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good. “And that design change would run throughout the entire ship because of the power required for the new system”. Maybe someone should tell Trump the Chinese plan to use EMALS in their future carriers. When the steam-drawn, as Defense Industry Daily explains, from a carrier’s nuclear reactor-accumulates, it activates pistons in the catapult, removing the restraints and sending the aircraft hurling forward and into the sky. (Yes, really.) This new system-which is presumably what Trump had in mind when he spoke of “the digital“-really is complicated, but the basic function is simple enough: In fact, it’s reportedly similar to the technology used on rollercoasters“. Poster Comment:
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