The U.S. Navy fired the first on-board catapult shots using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) on the Gerald R. Ford CVN 78.
The EMALS uses bursts of electromagnetic energy to launch planes into the air more efficiently. The EMALS offers increased reliability and efficiency, higher-launch energy capacity, more accurate speed control, and a smoother acceleration at high and low speeds. It requires less maintenance and delivers less stress on aircrafts.
Test shots fired from the catapult are known as “no-loads,” since no other loads or aircraft were attached to the launching system.
“During the tests, generators within the ship produced an electric pulse, which was passed through power conditioning electronics to linear motors just below the flight deck surface. This energy allowed for the linear motors to propel the launching shuttle down the catapult track in excess of 180 knots before bringing the shuttle to a stop at the end of the track,” according to MarineLink.
Further EMALS testing is scheduled for this summer; dead-loads will be launched off the bow of the CVN 78 into the James River.
“’Dead-loads’ are large, wheeled, steel vessels weighing up to 80,000 pounds to simulate the weight of actual aircraft. The dead-loads will be launched from each catapult using a specific test sequence to verify that the catapult and its components are operating satisfactorily,” according to MarineLink.
The CVN 78 will be commissioned in March 2016.
