US Navy testing electromagnetic catapult on aircraft carrier

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in hardware on (#64A2)
story imageFor almost as long as aircraft carriers have existed, they've been equipped with steam-powered catapults to help fighters and bombers get airborne. That's a remarkably old-fashioned technology when you're launching stealth fighters that cost upwards of $20 million each. Aircraft carriers are gigantic, but the runways simply aren't long enough for most planes to generate sufficient lift under their own power.

The US Navy is now testing a replacement system called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) aboard the new USS Gerald R. Ford. It works by using an electric current to generate magnetic fields that propel a carriage down the track built into the runway, launching planes much more smoothly and efficiently than the old steam catapults with improved reliability. A steam catapult takes up a great deal of space and weigh in excess of 1,300 pounds. These systems take a long time to recharge after each launch, and the launch itself is rather abrupt. There's no smooth acceleration with a steam piston, resulting in increase wear on the body of the aircraft. Steam catapults also use more power than the EMALS system.

Re: false dichotomy (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2015-04-05 12:50 (#6EVD)

Well, if the complaint about the steam catapult is (per the summary),
"There's no smooth acceleration with a steam piston, resulting in increase wear on the body of the aircraft. "
Then perhaps the thing to do is look at introducing modern controls into the existing system. I'll bet there is a way to make a proportional steam valve and hook it to a micro controller, with some feedback about the position, velocity and acceleration of the sled... Aircraft carriers seem to have no shortage of steam at high pressures, so it might make sense to keep this as the catapult power source.
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