General Atomics is committed to supporting the warfighter and ensuring the Navy maintains the capabilities necessary to meet current and future operational demands.
Given CVN 78’s successful operational performance, record 326-day deployment and receipt of a rare Presidential Unit Citation for the Carrier Strike Group’s role in Operation Epic Fury, the decision not to proceed with EMALS on CVN 81 warrants careful reconsideration. With nearly 50% of production complete, changing course now would introduce high cost, schedule, and integration risks.
The decision will have broader implications for carrier readiness, national security, and U.S. technological superiority, potentially creating opportunities for adversaries to close the capability gap. It also comes at a time when strengthening the U.S. supplier industrial base is a national priority, making workforce stability, production capacity, and the ability to sustain critical technologies more important than ever.
