Watch the Navy's Railgun Catapult Skip a 4-Ton Cart Like a Stone

The Navy's new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is a fully electric and railgun-like way of launching fighter jets and drones off an aircraft carrier and into the sky (distinct fromthe Navy's literal railgun).

A unit on the USS Gerald Ford started testing with a weighted sled earlier this month, but a recent video shows a new, impressive feat: Making a weighted sled that weighs as much as a car literally skip like a stone.

The sled in question here appears to be the same 7,900-pound sled launched in the system's inaugural test, but the EMALS system has the capability to scale much higher. These dead-load tests will eventually see the electromag catapult flinging payloads of 80,000 pounds, more than the average fighter jet.

The system isn't perfect yet. The first shot of yesterday's first public test didn't work according to the Navy Times, though after media left there were some successful fires, including the one that sent four tons of steel skipping across the water. Once its perfected, the electric EMALS system will replace the steam-powered catapults that have traditionally launched fighters off aircraft carriers, catapults that require a ton of space as well as stores of fresh water because salty sea water is too caustic to be used straight from the ocean. Whats more, those catapults couldn't handle drones whereas these can.

There are 20 more days of testing abord the Ford, with the dead-loads working their way up to the 80,000 pound max. The system has already launched planes from the ground, but the first launch of an operational aircraft from an actual ship is currently set for 2017. Ideally it will fly a little better than the carts.

Source: US Navy