NAVAIR Lakehurst plans for Navy’s newest catapult

Building the infrastructure, supporting buildings, and related utilities for the Navy’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) program moved a step closer to reality last Monday.

A combined Navy and Industry team of thirty people began a two-week meeting hosted by NAVAIR Lakehurst to finalize the design concept for the base to support the EMALS project. This meeting concludes the Navy’s formal conceptual planning to construct the necessary EMALS support facilities.

“We must anticipate support required for, at least, the next fifty years of aircraft development because the next generation carrier and EMALS are both designed for a 50-year service life,” said George Sulich, EMALS Team Leader.

This next-generation shipboard aircraft launching system, currently under development at NAVAIR Lakehurst, will begin full developmental testing by the year 2007. The current Navy plan is to install four electromagnetic catapults on the next-generation aircraft carrier scheduled to be at sea by the year 2014. Support for this system is what the Navy team presently is planning.

This new land-based EMALS support facility in Lakehurst will serve the Navy for many years to come. It will test and evaluate future EMALS modifications as well as test and evaluate both upgraded aircraft and completely new aircraft that may use it in the future.

According to Lt. Comdr. Scott W. Lowe, PE, Resident Officer In Charge of Construction for New Jersey, the military construction project will include a steel reinforced concrete trough structure that will house the electromagnetic propulsion equipment. The trough, itself, will be supported by a steel frame structure to replicate similar conditions on an aircraft carrier. Planned construction will provide access tunnels for wiring, maintenance and EMALS upgrades as necessary.

The new facility will make maximum use of existing utilities and consolidate existing test facilities to minimize cost and be funded by a multi-million dollar military construction appropriation by Congress.