The picture shows the Fujian ship
At present, China's Fujian ship has been unveiled, and this aircraft carrier directly uses the electromagnetic catapult . Ma Weiming, a naval ship power expert, even stated that if China is to lead in technology, it will be ahead of the United States. However, careful viewers found that , the Fujian ship has one less electromagnetic catapult than the United States. Why is this? The more catapults , the higher the take-off efficiency, isn't it?
The picture shows the Fujian ship catapult
Although the Fujian ship has a displacement of 80,000 tons and belongs to the category of large aircraft carriers, it still has a gap of about 20,000 tons compared with the US military Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and Ford-class aircraft carriers , coupled with the fact that the J-15 carried by the Chinese aircraft carrier is a heavy fighter and is itself larger in size, this also leads to the fact that the number of carrier-based aircraft carried by the Fujian ship will be less than that of the US aircraft carrier, so an electromagnetic catapult is added. There is no need for catapults. Currently, 3 electromagnetic catapults are enough for China. In addition, the electromagnetic catapults are also electric tigers. The Chinese aircraft carrier is still conventionally powered. The three electromagnetic catapults are likely to be the maximum load that the Chinese aircraft carrier can bear.
The picture shows the Fujian ship
Moreover, electromagnetic catapults are not cheap. In order to save money, China will also reduce the number of electromagnetic catapults on aircraft carriers. The most obvious example is the British Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, which the UK initially planned to develop. Two catapult-type aircraft carriers were equipped with US military F35C carrier-based aircraft. However, due to insufficient funds, they could only cancel the steam catapult , and the carrier-based aircraft were also replaced by F35B. The comprehensive combat capabilities of the aircraft carriers declined. It can be seen from this that ejection The cost of the catapult is not cheap. The electromagnetic catapult used in China is naturally more expensive than the steam catapult.
Third, looking at the aircraft carrier deck layout, we can find that the position where the catapult can be installed is at the head of the aircraft carrier deck, and at the angled deck position. The US military aircraft carrier catapult layout adopts a 2+2 configuration, that is, two parts on the bow. There are two parts of bevel flight deck and . Although all four catapults can take off carrier-based aircraft, under normal circumstances, the main function of the bevel deck is to recover fighter aircraft. Once an aircraft needs to use the bevel deck, then here Electromagnetic catapults cannot be used.
The picture shows the electromagnetic catapult
The most important point is that the take-off efficiency of the electromagnetic catapult is high enough. Traditional steam catapults require preliminary preparation to make the pressure furnace meet the standards, while electromagnetic catapults only need to be charged before they can eject. Compared with steam catapults, its efficiency has increased by at least 30%, so carrier-based aircraft can be dispatched faster. The improvement in efficiency of a single piece of equipment is enough to offset the shortcomings caused by the difference in quantity. Don't look at it. The US aircraft carrier has four electromagnetic catapults, but the Ford-class aircraft carrier has not yet been able to form combat effectiveness, so what is the use of having a large number?
In the future, with the development of China's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, maybe on a nuclear aircraft carrier with a larger tonnage and more powerful power, China will follow the United States and adopt a layout of four electromagnetic catapults, but it cannot be because of the 003 aircraft carrier. Without a catapult, it is considered inferior to the United States. After all, the road is taken step by step. China's ability to achieve such a major achievement in the aircraft carrier field in such a short period of time is a pioneering work in itself.
