Naval Warfare
Aircraft Carriers and Catapults: China Develops a New Concept
The USS Gerald R Ford was the pioneer of electromagnetic launch systems but is experiencing serious launch and recovery problems; now China is developing a new design
Chinese engineers claim to have developed a new concept for carrier based aircraft launch catapults (EMALS). It is based on flywheels linked by eddy currents with cable links to the aircraft’s nose-wheel shuttle avoiding the need for linear electro-magnetic motors, or the need for complex steam-powered systems.
But can the concept be transformed into a practical system capable of accelerating a 30 ton aircraft to 140 knots in less than 3 seconds?
Catapult history
The history of catapult launch systems (CATOBAR) is littered with a wide range of technologies including gunpowder, rocket and compressed air launch power. Steam eventually won the day until STOL/VTOL aircraft such as the Hawker Harrier went airborne using the ski-jump structure without any catapult in the mid-1970s.
The evolution of the steam catapult reached its peak in the USA’s Nimitz Class carriers:
