Test footage of China’s road-mobile mini EMALS catapult emerged on Chinese social media, showing a launch of a tactical-class UAV from the multi-part catapult.
China is studying a new catapult concept by taking advantage of the EMALS architecture’s flexible scalability. The new concept from China consists of multiple vehicles connecting to form a small EMALS catapult to launch lighter fixed-wing aircraft.
The footage on Chinese social media shows a tactical-class UAV (<1 ton presumed) being launched by the former catapult.
The catapult system was previously seen on a cargo ship, but was placed on containers.
If the idea proves to be operationally feasible (Apart from being proven for its capability to launch), it might allow China to form quickly compact and relocatable airfields on non-ideal terrain when combined with logistics support for ammunition and fuel.
Furthermore, otherwise non-combatant ships with enough free space might become mini carriers themselves for light UAVs that can be used for ISR and strike missions.
It is understood that the experiences from the Type 003 Fujian carrier and Type 076 LHD have contributed to this development, as both use EMALS catapults on different scales.
EMALS Catapults' Scalability Advantage
General Atomics of the US intends to take advantage of the new generation of electromagnetically propelled catapults in a different way, which is by fitting small catapults on STOVL aircraft-carrying ships (LHDs, carriers of the HMS Queen Elizabeth class) to launch CCAs at the very least.
The demonstration of EMALS’ scalability might also shed light on other countries seeking naval aviation capabilities and having know-how on electromagnetic launch systems, such as Türkiye. Türkiye, already having worked on three different railgun projects (ASELSAN’s TUFAN, Urban Defence’s ŞAHİ 209 series, TÜBİTAK’s SAPAN) and seeking an aircraft carrier, could reuse the know-how to improve sortie performance for the future carrier-borne versions of KIZILELMA, HÜRJET, and ANKA-III, which are considerably lighter than full-scale naval fighters. It is known that the MUGEM aircraft carrier has a modular ramp structure to support catapult installation in case of availability.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
