U.S. Navy Still Does Not Know Why Its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System Failed On Its Newest Aircraft Carrier

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class Darius Jarmon lubricates an electromagnetic aircraft launching system (EMALS) catapult aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) in 2017. US Navy Photo

Business Insider: US Navy still trying to figure out exactly why aircraft launch system on $13 billion supercarrier failed

* The aircraft launch system on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford failed during recent at-sea testing, and the US Navy is still trying to figure out exactly what went wrong.
* A fault in the power handling elements of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) caused it to fail, hindering flight operations until a workaround was developed days later.
* The specific cause of the fault is still unclear though.
* "We're still going through the diagnosis. We're doing full-fault isolation to understand ... what caused the condition to come up in that way," James Geurts, the Navy acquisitions chief, said Thursday, according to Inside Defense.

The US Navy is still unsure exactly what caused a critical piece of technology on the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to fail earlier this month.

On June 2, during at-sea testing, the Ford experienced a power problem that caused the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) to fail, hindering flight operations for five days.

Unlike the steam catapults on the older Nimitz-class carriers, the new EMALS on the Ford uses electricity to create strong magnetic fields that propel a carriage connected to an aircraft down the runway, throwing the plane into the air.

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Update: Navy Unsure If Recent EMALS Fault Was Equipment or Procedure Problem, But Workaround Has Been Validated (USNI News)

WNU Editor: The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford also has a problem with its elevators .... Supercarrier Ford Could Soon Have More Than Half of Its Weapons Elevators Working (Military.com).