US Navy Weighs Moving Carrier Bridge to Midship After Trump Request

The US Navy is evaluating major design changes to its new aircraft carriers, considering moving the multi-story command bridge forward to midship to give the vessels a profile closer to older ships. Multiple current and former US officials said the move is intended to address President Trump's concerns about the "appearance" of the Ford-class carriers' aft-positioned bridge.

The Navy currently has three Ford-class carriers at different stages of construction. The John F. Kennedy is undergoing sea trials and is set to join the fleet shortly; the Enterprise and the Doris Miller are under construction; and the lead ship of the class, the Gerald R. Ford, is already in service and recently completed a long deployment in the Middle East.

Earlier, Trump issued a national security memorandum on Thursday directing the Navy to develop plans to restore old-style steam catapults on future carriers, the system used to launch jet aircraft from flight decks. This is seen as the second major design change Trump is pushing. Current and former Navy officials said Trump favors making new carriers resemble those that served during World War II.

According to a former senior US official, the Navy studied the feasibility of repositioning the bridge during Trump's first term. The official said the final conclusion was that the cost and time required would be prohibitive. Moving the bridge would involve major adjustments to the vessel's buoyancy and weight distribution, making the engineering work complex and expensive.