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By John Reed Monday, December 20th, 2010 5:26 pm Posted in Air, International, Naval The U.S. Navy’s next-generation electromagnetic catapult performed its first ever live aircraft launch on Saturday when an F/A-18E Super Hornet was shot from the system at the Navy’s Lakehurst Air Engineering Station in New Jersey. This marks the first time that a Navy plane has been launched by anything other than a steam catapult in over half a century. “Today we answered the question — will EMALS work,” said Kathleen Donnelly, Director for Support Equipment and Aircraft Launch and Recovery at Lakehurst. “Now we’ll work toward...

Phoghat writes "In 2015 the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford will take to the seas and the plan is to use a railgun to launch planes, instead of steam powered catapults. From the article: 'The Navy developed its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System as a replacement for the steam catapults currently used on aircraft carriers. The EMALS is a linear induction motor that's capable of accelerating a 100,000 pound aircraft to 240 miles per hour in the space of 300 feet. Compared to a steam catapult, the railgun catapult is much smaller, more efficient, simpler to maintain, gentler on airframes,...

The Navy made history Saturday when it launched the first aircraft from the Naval Air Systems Command, Lakehurst, N.J., test site using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, technology. The Navy has been using steam for more than 50 years to launch aircraft from carriers. Saturday, the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) program launched an F/A-18E Super Hornet using the EMALS technology that will replace steam catapults on future aircraft carriers. “This is a tremendous achievement not just for the ALRE team, but for the entire Navy,” said Capt. James Donnelly, ALRE program manager. “Saturday’s EMALS launch demonstrates...

Super Hornet Could Launch From Electromagnet Catapult By Christmas The U.S. Navy might achieve the biggest breakthrough in catapult design in more than 50 years this month if it can launch an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet from its new magnetic catapult system. According to Chris Cavas at Defense News, the sea service is prepping a Super Hornet to be launched from the electromagnetic launch system (EMALS) before Christmas. “The shot should take place within a couple of weeks,” said Rob Koon, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Asked if the engineers were trying to make the launch before Christmas,...

Recent tests at NAS Lakehurst, N.J., should have builders of the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) sleeping more easily. The Navy’s risky bet in the design of the Ford—its reliance on an all-electric replacement for the steam catapult—appears to be paying off. Problems and delays with the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (Emals) last year were a threat to the carrier, because its design and construction reached a point where reverting to steam would have been difficult and expensive. With Emals in mind, the Ford-class features a much more powerful electrical generation and distribution system than the predecessor Nimitz-class ships, along...

Radical plans by the US Navy to equip its next aircraft carrier with electromagnetic mass-drivers for launching aircraft instead of the traditional steam catapults have hit technical snags. The so-called Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, is now under development in a shore-based test facility at Lakehurst naval air station in New Jersey. However, according to reports, the test mass-driver installation suffered serious damage earlier this year in a mishap blamed on a "software malfunction". Apparently the "shuttle" - which moves along the catapult track to accelerate a plane to flying speed - went the wrong way in a test...

Losing steam: US Navy carriers go electric By Rebecca Christie 27 February 2008 Half a century after the introduction of steam-driven catapults, the US Navy (USN) aircraft carrier community is entering an era that trades steam and hydraulics for advanced electronic circuitry. Construction of the first in a new line of carriers, Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), is due to begin in 2008 and the USD10.5 billion ship will use electricity instead of steam for launching combat aircraft, cooking meals and heating sailors' living quarters. Its nuclear reactors will produce more electricity than any other warship, powering a maintenance revolution...