|
Next Navy Carrier to use Electromagnetic Launcher
EFL - from my local SD paper San Diego-based General Atomics was awarded a $145.6 million contract yesterday to deliver an electromagnetic aircraft launcher for the next aircraft carrier to be built by the Navy. The launcher, which uses electromagnets to accelerate aircraft to flight speeds, represents a significant advance over steam-driven catapults that have been used aboard Navy aircraft carriers for decades. The underlying technology is similar in concept to Disneylandâs "Rocket Rods," a discontinued ride that gave park visitors a three-minute tour of Tomorrowland. The ride used a sequence of electrically powered magnets installed along the track to pull a fleet of five-passenger cars. Under the five-year contract, General Atomics will install the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System on CVN-21, the Navyâs next-generation aircraft carrier. Preliminary development and design of the unnamed carrier, for which construction is scheduled to begin in 2007, are under way at Northrop Grummanâs shipyard in Newport News, Va. "Basically we have to provide enough energy to provide the end speed needed to launch any given aircraft," said Tony Kopacz, program manager for General Atomicsâ electromagnetic launch system. The end speed needed to launch an aircraft from a carrier ranges from almost 60 mph to well more than 200 mph, depending on the size of the aircraft, Kopacz said. A steam catapult, which is powered by a boiler system aboard an aircraft carrier, expends energy with each launch. An electromagnetic system operates much differently, by running electrical energy in sequence through a series of powerful magnets. "The claim to fame is that itâs easier on the airplane," Kopacz said. "We also can handle a bigger spread of different types of airplanes well into the 21st century." Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=29861 |