Third Chinese aircraft carrier to receive an electromagnetic catapult
According to unconfirmed reports, China has been developing its own electromagnetic catapult since the end of 1990's. Since 2002, the country has been building a ground-based test facility with an experimental electromagnetic catapult; it ended in the 2014 year. Previously, it was known that it was tested "dead weight", and reliable information about the launches of aircraft did not appear.
The length of the Chinese catapult is about 120 meters with a length of electromagnetic guides about a hundred meters. A laboratory prototype of a Chinese electromagnetic catapult was built on the 1 scale to 1 in the 2008 year. Where exactly the complex is located is not disclosed.
At the beginning of 2010, the Chinese media have repeatedly reported that the electromagnetic catapult will receive the second aircraft carrier (Type 001A), but in April last year this ship was launched without a catapult; from it the planes will take off with the help of a springboard.
In November last year, Rear Admiral Yin Chuo, head of the advisory commission of the Chinese Navy, said that the enterprises of the Chinese defense industry had completed the development of an electromagnetic catapult for promising aircraft carriers. According to him, the device has already passed the test program, including launches of combat aircraft, reports the publication "N + 1"
- Simon YANG / Flickr
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