Electromagnetic catapult touted for China's next aircraft carrier
Staff Reporter 2013-08-14 08:47
Other countries in Asia are also putting aircraft carriers into service after China launched the Liaoning last year. (Photo/CNS)
China's first domestically built aircraft carrier will use a catapult system to launch aircraft but it will not be powered by steam but will be electromagnetic, according to a report in the Qianjiang Evening News based in Hangzhou.
The newest US aircraft carriers in service use steam-powered catapults, a situation that will not change until the delivery of the USS Gerald R Ford to the US Navy in 2015. The system has disadvantages, Mark Dannatt, the director of naval business at GE Power Conversion, pointed out. "It's basically a tube with a piston inside," said Dannatt. "You get a tremendous jolt at the start of the launch when you open the valve and let the steam out at full pressure. This does not do the aircraft or the pilot any good."
Dannatt said the more advanced electromagnetic catapult starts like a theme park ride and attains maximum speed at launch. The system places less stress on the aircraft and offers more control during launch by allowing gradual and continual acceleration. The electromagnetic system is smaller and eliminates the need for a separate steam boiler to power the catapult, and thus requires fewer personnel to operate.
To construct the best aircraft carrier for the PLA Navy, several military analysts have stated that a catapult will be needed to launch aircraft larger than J-15 fighters. Du Wenlong from the Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing said a catapult system is a must whether steam-powered or electromagnetic. Zheng Wenhao from the state newswire Xinhua told the People's Daily newspaper Global Times that this is a way for the PLA Navy to cut 20% from the PLA's budget on the development of aircraft carriers.
Senior Colonel Li Jie, a researcher from the Chinese Naval Research Institute, said China will try to mount an electromagnetic catapult on the country's first domestic carrier — China's first carrier, the Liaoning, is a refitted Soviet-era carrier purchased from Ukraine — if the development of the vessel goes well. This would make China the first nation to have an aircraft carrier with similar capability to its US counterparts.
