- Video shows China’s road-mobile electromagnetic catapult launching an aircraft for the first time
- The footage comes from a now-deleted social media post by the Beijing Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical Engineering
- Leverages China’s existing EMALS technology by miniaturizing what it already uses on its aircraft carrier
China appears to have solved one of the biggest challenges facing modern drones: launching without a runway anywhere on the planet, thanks to a miniaturized version of the EMALS catapults found on its newest aircraft carrier.
A short video clip that surfaced late last month, from a social media post by the Beijing Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical Engineering, shows three eight-wheeled trucks connected in a Lego-like fashion to form a runway that allows a propeller-driven drone to fly.
The footage also shows all three trucks detached, coupled together, and exhibiting four-wheel steering, essentially enabling them, if given enough room, to launch drones or small aircraft in any direction.
Replacing a runway on the modern battlefield?
China’s move is not one that happened in a vacuum: The United States was the first country in the world to deploy an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), sparking an arms race when it launched its first aircraft in 2017 aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford.
China followed suit with its own aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which has three EMALS catapults to the US’s four, possibly accounting for the Chinese carrier’s smaller size compared to its main naval rival’s largest.
However, China has beaten the US to the punch when it comes to demonstrating a portable EMALS, it seems, with its three-truck solution essentially marking a first for both countries.
Chinese state-owned giants account for a significant share of the 70+ organizations directly involved in an impressive performance that sets the stage for the next generation of drone-based combat.
Despite the video making the rounds on social media, it was removed by the Beijing Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical Engineering, which originally posted it. However, the initiative has not stopped defense forums and Chinese analysts from providing insight into what is clearly a major technological achievement for the country.
With France and India both committed to fielding EMALS (albeit on future aircraft carriers for now), only two countries currently have the technology deployed on a ship, and only one of them has a land-based, portable option in play for now: China.
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