Watch the US Navy Test Its Electromagnetic Jet Fighter Catapult

An anonymous reader sends word via Engadget that the U.S. Navy has tested its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System for the first time with a "dead-load" (a wheeled steel sled that weighs as much as a jet) aboard the Gerald R. Ford carrier. The article goes on to say: "Its advantages over traditional catapults that use steam instead of electromagnetic energy include smoother acceleration and its ability to place less stress on the aircraft — plus, it was designed to work even with more advanced carriers that the military will surely use in the future." You can watch a video of the "dead-load" testing here.

Comments

Re:intuitively I would think steam would be better

[goombah99]

THey claimed selling point, that it's gentler on the aircraft seems questionable. Why? Steam just provides a force, how quickly you change that into momentum should be up to you. It's not like steam is an explosion that can't be accurately regulated. It's just valves.

Here's my guess. When they built the steam system they decided to make it failsafe so that one the acceleration started it completed itself just by physics not by precision timing of valves. That way you didn't huck planes into the ocean due to a stuck valve. Presumably this led to less fine grained control of the force versus velocity curve.

I would guess that the electrical one will not have that desirable characteristic. What happens if one of the capacitor banks fails or the electro magnet blows up right during the discharge process? Nothing good I would bet.

No doubt this thought has not eluded them but it sounds to me like people on a project overselling their good features and ignoring possible showstoppers early in the development process. After all maybe they won't show up down the road as being important.

Perhaps an ideal system would be a hybrid. You run the steam with 120% of the FxDistance to get the plane in the sky, and then you run the electrical system in opposition, trimming off 20% of the force. That way it fails safe, but it also has the perfect force curve on the airframe.

For once, I can say,

[weilawei]

WHOOSH!

And it's on topic.

range OK, bearing off?

[Anonymous Coward]

They totally missed that white boat! Looks like about 30 degrees to starboard and they'd have nailed it. Bad aiming there.

Re:I don't get the point of this thing...

[NekSnappa]

now if we go with a destroyer or smaller craft that has electric propulsion, what you'll find is that they all have diesel generators in them. That is they burn GASOLINE... and the gasoline produces electricity and that electricity then drives electric motors.

I hope you never buy a diesel powered car.