You are getting an electromagnetic field by turning on linear motor sequentially so we don’t energize the whole field in one shot,” he explained. It has to work every time you press the launch button. “It is the same type of technology that you see in a rollercoaster except this one is designed for critical launch reliability. The linear motors are engineered to help in creating a sequentially activated rolling magnetic field or wave able to thrust or propel aircraft forward, Donnelly explained. Special Cabling and linear induction motor sections have been installed on board the USS Ford already. Metal decking is slated to be placed over the trough on the flight deck. It started early because for EMALS, some of the equipment such as the motor-generators are lower in the ship so they had to be part of the super-lift early on,” Donnelly added. “We’ve been making component deliveries to the ship (USS Ford) in Newport News since 2011. Jim Donnelly, program manager for aircraft launch and recovery equipment, told Military.com in a recent interview. We’ve conducted 452 aircraft launches and just finished up our second phase of aircraft compatibility testing,” Capt. The first aircraft launch will be after the ship gets to sea. “As things get connected they will increase the number of tests. Ship integration and testing for the EMALS technology will mark a substantial milestone in a program which, until now, has widely been conducting ground-based flight tests at the Navy facility in Lakehurst, N.J., Moore explained. “The testing has allowed us to stay ahead of the curve and identify issues in advance of installing it on the rest of the ships,” Moore said. On the ship, EMALS will be engineered such that any of the ship’s four catapults will be able to withdraw power from any one of the three energy storage groups on the ship, he said.Īs the catapult troughs for the USS Ford’s EMALS system were being built and integrated with the overall system, the system’s technology has been in the process of extensive testing at a Naval Air Warfare Center facility in Lakehurst, N.J. Minimizing stress on the airframe, over time, reduces maintenance,” Moore added. “By the time the aircraft gets to the catapult it is at the perfect speed. As a result, EMALS is designed to more smoothly launch aircraft while reducing stress and wear and tear on the airframes themselves, he added. Unlike old steam catapults, which use pressurized steam, a launch valve and a piston to catapult aircraft off the carrier, EMALS uses a precisely determined amount of electrical energy. As you accelerate the aircraft down the catapult, you can accelerate it to the precise speed it needs to launch,” Moore said. You can dial in the precise weight of the aircraft. “By having this electrical pulse come down, you are pulling the aircraft down to the catapult to launch it.
This includes a series of transformers and rectifiers specially designed to convert and store electrical power through a series of motor generators before brining power to the launch motors on the catapults, Moore explained. On the ship, the below-deck EMALS equipment has been already installed and ready.
The other two are almost built,” Moore said.
“Two of the four catapults are completely built. Ford, or CVN 78, the first in class of the new carriers expected to be delivered to the Navy next year. The first EMALS system has been under construction for lots of years aboard the USS Gerald R. The brand new EMALS system, which uses an electromagnetic field to propel aircraft instead of the steam catapult, is slated for the new Ford-class aircraft carriers. Thomas Moore, Program Executive Officer, Carriers. It will be the first time in 60-years that we have shot something off a ship using something other than a steam catapult,” said Rear Adm. “In June, we’ll start shooting dead loads into the James River.