Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:50:55

Why EMALS cannot be cheaply retrofitted to Queen Elizabeth

The panel explains the difference between being planned to allow a future conversion and being genuinely ready for an affordable EMALS retrofit.

Aircraft CarriersCATOBAREMALSModernisationQueen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers
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Question

Are the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers planned and fitted for EMALS?

Short answer

They were planned with a future option in mind, but are not fitted for it; an EMALS conversion would require an extremely expensive rebuild.

Notes

Queen Elizabeth was designed with the possibility of future catapult conversion in mind. The necessary provisions were removed before the ship was completed, leaving a planned option rather than a fitted capability. The 2010 effort to revisit CATOBAR exposed how much rebuilding an EMALS conversion would require. Such work belongs at the scale of a major mid-life transformation rather than a routine upgrade.