General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) developed the first operational modern electromagnetic catapult, named Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), for the United States Navy. These control problems allow Nimitz-class aircraft carrier steam-powered catapults to launch heavy aircraft, but not aircraft as light as many unmanned aerial vehicles.

With no feedback, there often occurs large transients in tow forces that can damage or reduce the life of the airframe.' The steam system is massive, inefficient (4–6%), and hard to control. One group of Navy engineers wrote: 'The foremost deficiency is that the catapult operates without feedback control. Carriers equipped with four steam catapults have been able to use at least one of them at 99.5% of the time. It also reduces the carrier's requirement for fresh water, thus reducing the demand for energy-intensive desalination.ĭeveloped in the 1950s, steam catapults have proven exceptionally reliable. Compared to steam catapults, the EMALS also weighs less, is expected to cost less and require less maintenance, and can launch both heavier and lighter aircraft than a steam piston-driven system. Its main advantage is that it accelerates aircraft more smoothly, putting less stress on their airframes. The advantage of the electromagnetic catapult is that it is safer and more reliable because the acceleration process is more uniform and less damaging to the structure of the aircraft compared to the steam catapult. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear induction motor rather than the conventional steam piston. Ford-class aircraft carriers and the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian. Currently, only the United States and China have successfully developed it, and it is installed on the Gerald R. An electromagnetic catapult, also called EMALS ('electromagnetic aircraft launch system') after the specific US system, is a type of aircraft launching system.

Catapult ems