SAN DIEGO — General Atomics has received a $42.87 million U.S. Navy order to supply spare parts for the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) installed on in-service Ford-class aircraft carriers.
The firm-fixed-price order is valued at $42,871,948 and was issued by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Patuxent River, Maryland, under an existing basic ordering agreement. The contract was not competed.
The order covers insurance spares and rotable pool spares for both systems. Insurance spares are kept in reserve for unexpected failures, while rotable pool components can be removed, repaired and returned to service.
Work will be performed in Tupelo, Mississippi (61%), San Diego, California (38%), Boston, Massachusetts (0.5%), and Lakehurst, New Jersey (0.5%). The Navy expects the work to be completed by April 2034, using Fiscal Year 2026 other procurement funds.
The Navy has not disclosed the number of carrier shipsets covered by the order or which specific carriers will receive the parts.
Supporting Ford-Class Carriers
EMALS uses a linear induction motor to launch aircraft from the carrier deck, replacing the steam catapults used on Nimitz-class carriers. AAG provides the aircraft recovery function using an electromagnetic-based system.
General Atomics designed and built both systems and has operated a related manufacturing facility in Tupelo since 2005.
The lead Ford-class carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), entered service with EMALS in 2017. After early development and reliability challenges, the system has accumulated significant operational use. Pentagon documents cited by Reuters showed that the carrier had completed 36,863 EMALS launches by March 2026.
The carrier returned to Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026, after a 326-day deployment. During that deployment, Carrier Air Wing 8 recorded more than 5,760 flight hours and 12,200 aircraft launches.
Separate From Doris Miller Decision
The spare-parts order is separate from a recent decision involving future Ford-class carriers.
On August 13, 2026, President Donald Trump signed a national security memorandum directing the Navy to remove EMALS and Advanced Weapons Elevators from the future USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) and develop a plan to use steam catapults and hydraulic elevators on that ship and subsequent carriers.
The directive does not affect USS Gerald R. Ford, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79), or USS Enterprise (CVN-80), which will retain EMALS and AAG as built.
General Atomics said the change on Doris Miller warrants reconsideration, noting that nearly 50% of production for that shipset was already complete. The company and naval analysts have said changing the design could create significant cost, schedule and integration risks because the Ford-class ships were designed around an all-electric architecture.
The new $42.9 million order applies only to EMALS and AAG already installed on carriers in the fleet and is separate from decisions concerning launch and recovery systems on future ships.
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