General Atomics Completes First Aircraft Launch Using new electromagnetic aircraft launch system,

San Diego, Calif., December 20, 2010. General Atomics today celebrated a milestone with the launch of an F/A-18E aircraft using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.  "This event marks the first time in over 50 years that the Navy has been able to launch a carrier-based aircraft using a system other than steam," said GA Electromagnetic Systems Division Vice President R. Scott Forney, III. "This milestone is an extraordinary accomplishment for General Atomics' EMALS program."

EMALS is the catapult launch system that is being designed for CVN-78 class aircraft carriers, replacing the steam catapults used on the current generation of aircraft carriers.  As the EMALS prime contractor, GA was awarded a contract to produce the new catapult for CVN 78 in June 2009.  The first components of the EMALS equipment are scheduled for delivery in 2011.

General Atomics


In Popular Science: The Navy's Next-Gen Electromagnetic Catapult System Hurls its First Planes Skyward