American supercarriers have been the leading the US Navy and have permitted
power projection far off from the US homeland. The new Ford-class supercarriers are being built
to replace some of the United States Navy’s existing Nimitz-class carriers.
While the Ford-class incorporates many new technologies, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch
System or EMALS is one of the most important & complex ones.
It is touted to greatly increases the effectiveness of Ford class supercarriers.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System is a key
feature for Ford-class supercarriers? Let's get started.
This video is sponsored by the free-to-play military vehicle combat game War Thunder. We
talk a lot about military vehicles on this channel, but what about trying them out for
yourself? In War Thunder, you can chose from more than 1200 playable vehicles from the 1930s
to the 1990s and go to battle on more than 80 theaters of war. You can fly aircraft,
helicopters, drive tanks and command ships of all types and sizes, which have all been carefully
recreated from their real-world counterparts. It's available as a free download on PC,
PlayStation4 and Xbox One with cross-platform support, so grab your friends and give it a try!
All viewers of Defense Updates that register using the link in the description below will
also get a free premium tank or aircraft or ship and three days of premium account time as a bonus.
There are mainly 3 ways of launching aircraft from a carrier:
1. Ski Jump: Old system, is used in current Russian, Chinese, Indian and British carriers.
2. Steam catapult: Semi-advanced system, used in current Nimitz class
aircraft carrier of the United States navy. 3. Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System
or EMALS: State of Art system, being installed in United States Ford class supercarriers
EMALS uses electric current to generate a magnetic field.
That field then propels a carriage down a track. EMALS consists of four main components:
1. Linear induction motor or LIM:
It consists of a row of stator coils with the same function as the circular stator coils in a
conventional induction motor. When energized, the motor accelerates the carriage along the track.
The EMALS' 300-foot or 91 m linear induction motor will accelerate a 100,000-pound or 45,000
kg aircraft to 240 km/h or 150 mph. 2. Energy storage subsystem:
During a launch, the induction motor requires a large surge of electric power that exceeds
what the ship's own continuous power source can provide. The EMALS energy storage system design
accommodates this by drawing power from the ship during its 45-second recharge period
and storing the energy kinetically using the rotors of four disk alternators;
the system then releases that energy which can be up to 484 MJ in 2–3 seconds
3. Power conversion subsystem: During the launch, the power conversion subsystem releases the
stored energy from the disk alternators using a cycloconverter. The cycloconverter provides a
controlled rising frequency and voltage to the Liner Induction Motor, energizing
only the small portion of stator coils that affect the launch carriage at any given moment.
4. Control consoles: Operators control the power through a closed-loop system.
Hall effect sensors on the track monitor its operation, allowing the system to ensure
that it provides the desired acceleration. The closed-loop system allows the EMALS to maintain
a constant tow force, which helps reduce launch stresses on the plane's airframe.
Let us now understand how SKI JUMP, STEAM CATAPULT & EMALS compare to each other.
Ski-jump aircraft carriers generate their airspeed from the run-up distance
on the deck of the aircraft carrier and an assist from the ski-jump. Ski-jump aircraft
carriers have limitations, regarding how much ordnance can be loaded on the aircraft.
Steam catapulted aircraft of a similar category can carry 3 times as much as payload
compared to ski jump aircraft. This enable the aircraft to
carry more fuel or weapons thereby increasing the combat potential.
Steam catapult requires a lot of steam piping, a large condensate return, and tons of freshwater.
They also have a lot of maintenance issues. Plus, with steam actuation, the majority of the
force is being transferred to the airplane at the beginning of the stroke—in a jolt.
This puts stress on an airframe, and thus reduces the lifespan of multi-million dollar planes.
EMALS's power delivery is linear, it negates the deficiencies of steam catapult.
It's also lighter than a steam catapult system and cheaper to operate
and importantly can generate a much higher sortie rate.
As evident, EMALS is better than the other systems.
But the gap widens more if we consider that the future air wing
will have much more varied aircraft including drones.
EMALS is designed to support current and future air-wing configurations.
It can customize the thrust to launch a much wider range of air vehicles
than what is possible with a traditional steam catapult.
This impacts the overall effectiveness since the
supercarrier will operate with the ability to launch small,
medium and large drones for reconnaissance, refueling and even attack missions.
Ford-class has added many technological innovations that set the stage for EMALS.
Some of these are very substantial like Ford class supercarriers have 2 Bechtel A1B nuclear reactors.
Each one of these is capable of producing 300 MW of electricity, triple the 100
MW of each Nimitz-class vessel - this actually enables EMALS to operate seamlessly.
EMALS also works in tandem with the Ford class's new Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG).
So, Ford-class design is very well thought out.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems , the company responsible for delivering
EMALS & AAG , has recently stated that EMALS and AAG aboard USS Ford achieved 8,157
successful aircraft launches and recoveries during the ship’s Independent Steaming Events.
It indicates that the U.S is far ahead of the game when it comes to engineering and
operationally deploying aircraft carriers when compared to Russia and China.