China’s electric car scientists create powerful electromagnetic catapult for aircraft carriers
- Chinese scientists have created an electromagnetic catapult for aircraft carriers using technology similar to electric vehicles
- The system can launch a plane from zero to 70 metres per second in 2.1 seconds, and at a lower cost to traditional catapults
With a working principle similar to the technology used in electric vehicles, the system could slash the cost of the carrier-based aircraft catapult while boosting performance and reliability.
The device can hurtle a 30-tonne plane from zero to 70 metres per second in just 2.1 seconds. That is nearly double the weight of the J-20 stealth fighter, which is currently too heavy for an aircraft carrier.
In comparison, traditional aircraft carrier electromagnetic catapult systems typically require more than three seconds to accelerate a 13-tonne fighter aircraft to 66 metres per second.
“The new catapult system has a small footprint, simple structure, light weight and does not require a complex power supply system,” wrote a team led by Ye Lezhi, an associate professor with the school of mechanical and energy engineering at Beijing University of Technology, in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Chinese academic journal Acta Armamentarii on February 27.