CATOBAR

Flight deck of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, showing catapult layout

Catapult launches aboard USS Ronald Reagan

CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery or Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier. Under this technique, aircraft launch using a catapult-assisted take-off and land on the ship (the recovery phase) using arrestor wires.

Although this system is costlier than alternative methods, it provides greater flexibility in carrier operations, since it imposes less onerous design elements on fixed wing aircraft than alternative methods of launch and recovery such as STOVL or STOBAR, allowing for a greater payload for more ordnance and/or fuel. CATOBAR can launch aircraft that lack a high thrust to weight ratio, including heavier non-fighter aircraft such as the E-2 Hawkeye and Grumman C-2 Greyhound.

Types

Main article: Aircraft catapult

The catapult system in use in modern CATOBAR carriers is the steam catapult. Its primary advantage is the amount of power and control it can provide. During World War II the US Navy used a hydraulic catapult.

The United States Navy is developing a system to launch carrier-based aircraft from catapults using a linear motor drive instead of steam, called the EMALS.

Current users

Only two states currently operate carriers that use the CATOBAR system following the decommissioning of Brazil's NAe São Paulo in February 2017; the U.S. with its Nimitz-class and Gerald R. Ford-class and France with its Charles De Gaulle.

U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford-class carriers will use the EMALS electromagnetic aircraft launch system in place of steam catapults.

Active CATOBAR aircraft carriers

Class	Picture	Origin	No. of ships	Propulsion	Displacement	Operator	Aircraft carried	Catapult
Nimitz		United States	10	Nuclear	100,020 t (220,510,000 lb)	United States Navy	F/A-18 Hornet C-2 Greyhound E-2 Hawkeye	C-13-1 or C-13-2 steam
Gerald R. Ford		United States	1	Nuclear	100,000 t (220,000,000 lb)	United States Navy	F-35C E-2 Hawkeye	EMALS
Charles de Gaulle		France	1	Nuclear	37,085 t (81,758,000 lb)	French Navy	Rafale M E-2C Hawkeye	C-13-3 steam

Potential users

The Chinese Type 002 aircraft carrier, currently under construction at the Jiangnan Shipyard, will feature an integrated electric propulsion system that will allow the operation of electromagnetic launch catapults, similar to the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) used by the United States Navy.

INS Vishal, India's second indigenous aircraft carrier of the Vikrant-class, is planned to be of 65,000 ton displacement and to utilize the EMALS electromagnetic aircraft launch system developed by General Atomics as it supports heavier fighters, AEW aircraft and UCAVs that cannot launch using a STOBAR ski jump ramps.

See also

• List of all aircraft carriers