Aircraft catapult
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An aircraft catapult is an acceleration device used to help fixed-wing aircraft reach liftoff speed faster during takeoff, typically when trying to take off from a very short runway, as otherwise the
An F-14 Tomcat preparing for attachment to a steam catapult on USS Saratoga.
An S2F-1 Tracker, piloted by Cmdr. Henry J. Jackson, catapulting off USS Hancock on June 1, 1954, the first time an aircraft was launched by a steam catapult from a USN carrier
An X-47B demonstrator UCAV for a land-based catapult launch at NAS Pax River
An MQ-27 ScanEagle UAV on a mobile catapult
The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System is an electromagnetic catapult system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy's CATOBAR supercarriers. The system enables assisted takeoffs o
Aircraft catapult
…system. Into the 21st century, General Atomics has developed an alternating current linear motor-based electromagnetic catapult system called the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which is installed on the United States Navy's new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. A direct current-based electromagnetic catapult has…
A drawing of the linear induction motor used in the EMALS
The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System at Naval Air Systems Command, Lakehurst, launching a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet during a test on 18 December 2010