ABOARD THE USS GERALD R. FORD—The Navy delayed demonstrations of its electromagnetic aircraft launching system (EMALS) this morning because components were not properly communicating with each other.
The problem is likely minor, and tests could resume as early as this afternoon, said Capt. John F. Meier, the commanding officer of the ship.
“Folks right now are trouble shooting this system, powering down the system to do some electrical resets,” he told reporters, who had gathered for a media day aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier currently under construction by Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] Newport News Shipbuilding.
The service had planned to conduct the first “dead load” tests for Catapult 1 this morning. During a dead load test, the system propels a heavy metal sled similar in weight to an aircraft off the bow of the ship. For the tests today, the sled was meant to simulate weights similar to the C-2 Greyhound, Meier said.
Dead load tests could resume as early as this afternoon, he said. Since tests started June 5, the crew has conducted 15 launches, 10 of which occurred yesterday on Catapult 2.
There have been “hiccups” and “minor discrepancies” during “no load” testing, which tests the movement of the catapult without any platform attached to it, Meiers said. However, there has been no major problem.
“We do not have material failures, if you will, the challenges that we have that I’ve seen have been communication related issues—the components talking together,” he said.
EMALS will be installed on all Ford-class aircraft carriers, the first of which will be delivered next year.
Navy officials say that EMALS will be more reliable and efficient than the legacy catapult system, allowing the service higher launch capacity and better end speed control. The system’s software controls the acceleration of the aircraft, modifying it according to the weight of the plane, which ultimately puts less stress on the aircraft.
“The system is designed around reducing the workload, reducing the wear and tear and increasing the reliability of the system,” Meiers said. The system can also launch aircraft in varying wind conditions, which will give the service more operational flexibility.
EMALS manufacturer General Atomics has already conducted 452 airplane launches and 3,400 deadloads during land-based testing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, said Scott Forney, the company’s president of electromagnetic systems.
During a typical catapult launch, the aircraft will travel more than 300 feet at about 160 miles per hour.