The French Navy chief said on Wednesday that the United States had not yet decided whether to revert to the older steam-powered catapults system for aircraft carriers, three months after President Donald Trump directed the US Navy to abandon the more modern electromagnetic launch system, prompting doubts over the future supply of the technology selected for France’s future aircraft carrier.
Trump signed a national security memorandum in August directing the change, which would require the fourth vessel in the Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers to abandon the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) used on the first three vessels.
"The American decision has not yet been taken," Admiral Christophe Cluzel, chief of France’s naval staff, told a parliamentary hearing. "I do not see our contract threatened."
Cluzel added that he had a meeting scheduled with his American counterpart next week, and that he thought the topic would be discussed.
(Reporting by Florence Loeve; Writing by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Makini Brice)
