In February 2024, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) confirmed that its Newport News Shipbuilding division (NNS) had initiated topside testing of the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on the US Navy’s aircraft carrier John F Kennedy (CVN 79).
EMALS, first integrated into USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), replaces the existing steam catapults currently in use on the US Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.
The launching system is designed to expand the operational capability of Ford-class carriers, providing the US Navy with the capability to launch all current and future carrier air wing platforms, from lightweight uncrewed aircraft to heavy strike fighters. The mission and function of EMALS remains the same as the traditional steam catapult – however, it employs entirely different technologies. EMALS uses stored kinetic energy and solid-state electrical power conversion. This technology permits a high degree of computer control, monitoring and automation.
The technology adopted in EMALS has a number of benefits. These include increased reliability and efficiency; more accurate end-speed control and smoother acceleration; expanded operational capability with increased sortie rates; cost reduction over time due to decreased manning and maintenance requirements; and the ability to launch a broader range of naval aircraft with less stress on the ship and aircraft. The electromagnetic launcher also provides higher launch energy capacity, substantial improvements in system weight, volume and maintenance, quieter and cooler work and living spaces for sailors compared to older steam-driven systems, and more intuitive maintenance software that will reduce troubleshooting times.
US Navy and industry partners worked together to launch the first deadloads from the flight deck of the carrier on 14 February 2024. The deadload testing yielded important performance data for the ship’s EMALS and marked the first of many test launches from the carrier as the ship’s aircraft launch and recovery equipment is commissioned.
A joint test team including personnel from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), HII, Supervisors of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, General Atomics and Carrier and Field Service Unit used one of the ship’s catapults to launch carts simulating aircraft.
Following successful ‘no-load’ testing on catapults one and two, known as the ‘bow cats,’ ‘dead-load’ testing was initiated. In this phase, large, wheeled, car-like structures of graduated weights up to 80,000 pounds to simulate the weight of aircraft are launched off the carrier’s bow. They are then retrieved and relaunched until the conclusion of the test programme.
Traveling more than 300ft down the catapult track at more than 150 miles per hour, EMALS provides expanded operational capability at reduced costs, higher launch-energy capacity, and more accurate end-speed control, with a smooth acceleration at both high and low speeds. Launch profiles have been optimized to reduce stress on the aircraft, in contrast to the sudden acceleration of steam catapults.
