The host smiled: "Well, it seems that Professor Li supports Professor Zhang's opinion, does Shen Gong have any opinion on this?"
” Shen Huan smiled and said, "Based on their judgment, there is nothing to doubt about the two professors.
I am also based on my judgment that the USS Ford, the lead ship of the Ford-class of the new generation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the United States, plans to install 4 electromagnetic catapults, which is well known.
General Atomics, the contractor of the electromagnetic catapult, plans to deliver the production components of the first shipborne electromagnetic catapult in 2011, and the four electromagnetic catapults with a total of 12 energy storage motors are scheduled to be delivered in 2012.
There are still six or seven years left at this point in time, and it seems a bit far away. ” After a pause, Shen Huan said again: "We also know from some news levels that the problem encountered by the electromagnetic catapult in the United States is that the volume of the entire system exceeds the standard.
According to the requirements of the US Navy and the design restrictions of the USS Ford, the volume of the entire electromagnetic catapult cannot exceed 425 cubic meters and the weight should not exceed 225 tons.
However, the current news is that the catapult designed by the atomic company may have a volume of more than 1,000 cubic meters and a weight of more than 600 tons, which is more than double the requirements of the US navy. ” "There is another problem that has not been solved, that is, the existence of electromagnetic effects, electromagnetic catapults are likely to interfere with the safety of other systems, carrier-based aircraft and ammunition on the aircraft carrier when working, and even high-intensity electromagnetic fields will affect or harm the human body.
In addition, from the perspective of the development plan of the United States, the United States Navy stipulates that it will enter the production stage of electromagnetic catapults from 2009 until the end of 2014; However, the planned full-scale prototype may be postponed until 2015.
In this way, there is a possibility that the cycle of production first and then testing may occur, and there may be more problems with the electromagnetic catapult installed on the Ford in the future. ” "For our country, if we want to use electromagnetic catapults on conventionally powered aircraft carriers, we need to effectively solve the energy conflict between high-speed navigation of aircraft carriers and the use of high-power electromagnetic catapults.
The solution to this problem is the ship's integrated power system, and I believe that in the next few years, we may be able to make a breakthrough in this area, and then the biggest problem of the use of electromagnetic catapults by domestic aircraft carriers in the future will be solved.
Shen Huan said very confidently.
Shen Huan naturally knew very well what technical problems the USS Ford aircraft carrier encountered later, and the most important thing was that the integrated power system of the United States was not up to par.
The Ford-class is the world's most advanced new-generation aircraft carrier, which has been attracting much attention, because the United States has applied a lot of new technologies to this aircraft carrier, in addition to electromagnetic catapults, there are also F35 lightning fighters.
It is also the largest aircraft carrier in the world, with a full displacement of more than 100,000 tons.
The USS Ford, which uses an electromagnetic catapult system, can achieve a much higher attendance rate than the original Nimitz-class in terms of fighter attendance.
You must know that steam catapults have always been a big obstacle to fighter attendance.
Comparing the Ford-class with the Nimitz-class, the Ford-class can theoretically eject more than 270 sorties per day, while the Nimitz-class only has more than 220 sorties.
At the same time, electromagnetic catapult also has an advantage, that is, the power is adjustable, which can adapt to the ejection needs of various weight aircraft and reduce the damage to the aircraft structure.
However, in order to realize this advantage, it is necessary to have a stable power supply system and power distribution system.
In this regard, the United States lagged behind China later.
The host smiled: "After listening to Shen Gong's interpretation, even I think that electromagnetic catapult is indeed much better than steam catapult."
So I would like to ask Professor Zhang, what do you think are the weaknesses of steam catapult relatively speaking?
Electromagnetic catapult has no drawbacks?
” Professor Zhang said with a smile: "Of course, the changes brought about by the new technology are good, and if the electromagnetic catapult is really successfully applied, the sortie rate of carrier-based aircraft is much higher than that of steam catapult."
Because electromagnetic ejection will bring some changes on the aircraft carrier, such as shorter ejection preparation time, the efficiency of deck action will be improved.
There is also a reduction in size, which also helps to increase the number of carrier aircraft, making maintenance simpler and eliminating the need for large amounts of fresh water.
One of the big disadvantages of steam catapult is that after continuous ejection, it will cause the power of the host to decrease.
When the Nimitz is ejected 8 times in a row, the speed will be reduced from 30 knots to 20 knots.
In order to restore the speed of the aircraft carrier, and also to meet the requirements of the deck wind for catapult take-off, it is necessary to stop the ejection and wait for the steam pressure to recover.
Electromagnetic catapults do not have this problem at all.
For example, during combat, steam catapult cannot take off all carrier-based fighters at one time, but electromagnetic catapult can do it, and the result is that in terms of short-term sortie rate, electromagnetic catapult has an overall advantage, and in the event of a large-scale air battle, the electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier will win completely. ” The host nodded and said, "Professor Zhang's interpretation is very good, I don't know if Professor Li and Shen Gong have anything to add?"
” At this time, Professor Li didn't speak, Shen Huan thought about it and said: "I want to add one point, that is, the influence of the ejection acceleration method, the steam ejection is a variable acceleration process, and the peak will exceed an overload of six G, while the electric bomb is a constant speed, with an overload of less than three Gs."
This will make a huge difference in the design of carrier-based aircraft.
The high overload of steam catapult requires a high longitudinal strength design of the carrier-based aircraft, which will increase the empty weight and design difficulty, which can be seen from the comparison of the carrier-based aircraft of the United States and the carrier-based aircraft of Da Mao, the carrier-based aircraft, landing gear and fuselage of the United States are more stout.
For our country, the future development of aircraft carriers, if the use of steam catapult as a transition, will bring some adverse effects, first of all, the design of the carrier-based aircraft, because the two catapult methods have different requirements for the design of the carrier-based aircraft, if we design the carrier-based aircraft first to meet the requirements of steam catapult, so that the empty weight will increase, the performance will decrease, and then improve to the electromagnetic catapult, almost equal to the redesign of a carrier-based aircraft, so that the waste of resources is great. ” Shen Huan is also very reasonable, and even Professor Zhang and Professor Li really can't find any reason to object.
The host smiled and said, "Professor Zhang, Professor Li, what do you two think?"
” Professor Zhang smiled and said: "I really didn't think of this question, it seems that Shen Gong's consideration is more detailed and thoughtful.
There are many advantages of electric bombs, such as small UAVs can be catapulted to large carrier-based early warning aircraft, which can be adjusted steplessly, and the condition for steam catapult is that there must be more than 20 deck winds, and electric bombs do not seem to have this requirement, and zero deck wind can also be used, which is very critical, and the aircraft carrier that uses electric bombs can catapult aircraft without having to travel at high speed in the wind in wartime, which is conducive to tactical evasion of attacks. ” The host smiled: "It seems that electric bombs are indeed the direction of development of future aircraft carriers."
So I would like to ask the last question, that is, is it really possible for us to go directly over the steam catapult and go on the electromagnetic catapult?
”