The US Navy is considering a significant redesign of its new Ford-class aircraft carriers, including the possible relocation of the command tower, as it seeks to align the ships more closely with concerns about their appearance raised by President Donald Trump.
The service is conducting an internal review on whether the multi-storey control structure, known as the “island”, should be moved closer to the middle of the vessel. A former senior US official familiar with the deliberations said the change would be intended to better match the look of older warships. The official, speaking to The Hill on condition of anonymity, said the review was due to be completed in “several” weeks.
The Hill said it had contacted the Pentagon and Navy for comment.
Review Under Way On Ford-Class Layout
The island typically sits above the rest of the carrier and is most often positioned on the starboard side. On an aircraft carrier, it serves as the nerve centre for running flight-deck operations, directing tactical command and managing navigation.
According to the internal review, any move would involve shifting the island from its current position towards the mid-point of the ship. The official said the effort was prompted, in part, by Trump’s concerns about the aesthetics of Ford-class carriers.
Island Role And Rationale
Hunter Stires, a former Maritime Strategist to the Navy Secretary, said warships are designed to perform in combat rather than to meet aesthetic preferences. In comments to The Hill, he argued that the placement of the island on Ford-class carriers was selected to support the carrier’s design goal of maximising the number of aircraft sorties, which he said translates into combat capability.
Stires also said that redesigning the Navy’s “premier capital ship” to accommodate the president’s preferences would involve substantial engineering effort and taxpayer spending, and he criticised the process in strongly worded terms, describing it as wasteful.
The Navy’s approach to the island’s position has previously been defended by senior officers. In 2022, Capt. Paul Lanzilotta, then captain of the USS Gerald R. Ford, said the extra space forward of the island on the ship gives aircraft on the deck more room to line up before launch. He also said that, compared with older carriers, the Ford-class arrangement avoids the need for interruptions during rapid operations on take-off and recovery.
Trump Catapult Order Adds Pressure
The potential island move would be the second major Ford-class design change directed by Trump. On Thursday, he ordered the Navy to remove the electromagnetic catapult system used to launch aircraft and return to steam catapults, according to officials and experts cited in the article.
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Trump’s national security memo instructed the service to ensure Ford-class carriers, including the USS Doris Miller, currently being built, use steam-powered catapult and hydraulic systems rather than the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Weapons Elevators.
Officials and experts said the shift would cost billions of dollars and reduce operational efficiency.
The internal Navy review was first reported by The Washington Post on Saturday.
Carrier Programme And Costs
Apart from the USS Doris Miller, two other Ford-class aircraft carriers are under construction. The Navy also operates 11 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
The USS Enterprise, a third Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is under construction by Huntington Ingalls Industries at Newport News Shipbuilding.
The construction cost for the Ford-class carriers is expected to be around $22 billion per ship, based on an August estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
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17 August 2026
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