Choosing electromagnetic catapult is the key to the success of Fujian Ship! The video about the Fujian Ship's three aircraft electromagnetic catapult takeoff released in recent days mainly comes from March to April this year. When designing the Fujian Ship, there were two technical paths available: steam catapult and electromagnetic catapult. Practice is the only standard for testing truth. The Fujian Ship not only successfully completed the electromagnetic catapult, but will also have strong technical and tactical performance. Choosing electromagnetic catapult was a correct and wise decision!
Compared with traditional steam catapult, electromagnetic catapult has several major advantages————
First, volume and weight. The EMALS electromagnetic catapult on the US Ford class weighs only 200 tons per unit, while the C13 type steam catapult on the Nimitz class weighs nearly 600 tons per unit.
Second, maintenance and support. The steam catapult has a huge and complex structure, with extremely high requirements for airtightness, and a large number of steam pipes and complex valves need to be kept intact. While the electromagnetic catapult has none of these, the workload for maintenance is reduced by 30%, the full life cycle cost is reduced by 20%, and the average time for fault repair is reduced by 50%.
Third, energy conversion efficiency. The energy conversion efficiency of the electromagnetic catapult can reach 60%. While the steam catapult is only about 6%, a lot of energy is wasted. This is very important for operations! The four steam catapults on the Nimitz class require 4-5 hours to fully charge and prepare, which also affects the speed of the carrier (the reactor steam must supply both the propulsion system and the catapult at the same time). In actual combat situations, the Nimitz class can launch 150 sorties per day, while the Ford class can do 250 sorties.
Fourth, impact on aircraft. The peak-to-average ratio of acceleration of the steam catapult is too high, generally exceeding 2 during actual operation. The acceleration and stress load fluctuations are too large, causing great damage to the aircraft structure, landing gear and even the pilots' bodies. While the peak-to-average ratio of acceleration of the electromagnetic catapult is only slightly above 1, the acceleration and stress load are smooth, uniform, and precisely controllable, without damaging the aircraft or pilots.
Our Fujian Ship adopts medium-voltage direct current energy storage technology, combined with super capacitor and flywheel energy storage, which is more feasible and convenient in terms of technology, superior to the United States' flywheel energy storage plus disc AC generator method. Combined with our powerful civil new energy foundation, the technical and tactical status improvement progress of the Fujian Ship is far better than that of the next-generation carrier "Ford" ship of the United States.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844101179825152/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.