The take-off method of aircraft carrier-based aircraft
The take-off method is an important issue that needs to be solved for aircraft carrier fixed-wing aircraft. Currently, there are three take-off methods for aircraft carrier fixed-wing aircraft in the world: large Aircraft carriers usually adopt a catapult method. The British light aircraft carrier uses a combination of ski jump and vertical take-off and landing, while the Russian medium-sized aircraft carrier uses a large fixed-wing fighter to take off with a ski jump.
Ejection take-off is divided into two types: steam ejection and electromagnetic ejection, among which steam ejection technology is the most mature.
The steam catapult was first invented by the British based on German technology. The U.S. Navy later purchased the British patent and eventually developed it; its principle is to use high-pressure steam to push a piston to drive the ejection. The slider on the track projects the carrier-based aircraft connected to it.
Professor Zhang also introduced that the United States has abandoned steam ejection technology and switched to more advanced electromagnetic ejection since the latest "Ford" class aircraft carrier.
It took the United States 60 or 70 years before it started engaging in electromagnetic catapults. At present, apart from the U.S. aircraft carrier, only the French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" in the world has purchased catapults from the United States. For the United States, this is a core technology that cannot be exported casually. As for the hybrid method of ski jump and vertical take-off and landing adopted by the UK, it must be combined with vertical take-off and landing fighter jets. Among the three take-off methods of carrier-based aircraft, Russia's ski-jump take-off method has the highest performance requirements for carrier-based aircraft.
Major General Zhang Zhaozhong said that in the 1970s, after Soviet experts encountered many difficulties in implementing the concept of steam catapult take-off, they began to study the horizontal take-off and landing technology of carrier-based aircraft with large thrust-to-weight ratio and high mobility on the aircraft carrier deck. From the proposal of the plan to the final successful implementation on the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier, the Soviet Union took more than 10 years and consumed a lot of manpower and material resources.
So, the ski-jump takeoff technology for Soviet aircraft carrier-based aircraft was hard-won. The "Varyag", which has been 70% completed before sale, has similar geometric parameters to the ski jump deck of the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier. This will help China study the Soviet aircraft carrier design experience and explore solutions for carrier-based aircraft The solution to the difficult problem of aircraft carrier horizontal takeoff and landing is a good reference.
In addition, compared with the advanced but complicated steam catapult take-off method of US aircraft carrier-based aircraft, the ski-jump take-off technology of Soviet aircraft carriers is simple and practical, and its technology research and development costs and risk control costs are relatively low. This may be due to Factors that China’s aircraft carrier plan will consider.