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 An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. Under this technique, aircraft launch using a

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

assisted take-off In aviation, assisted takeoff is any system for helping aircraft to get into the air (as opposed to strictly under its own power). The reason it might be needed is due to the aircraft's weight exceeding the normal maximum takeoff weight, insuf ...

and land on the ship (the recovery phase) using

arrestor wires An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBA ...

. 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 A short take-off and vertical landing aircraft (STOVL aircraft) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is able to take off from a short runway (or take off vertically if it does not have a heavy payload) and land vertically (i.e. with no runway). The ...

STOBAR STOBAR ("short take-off but arrested recovery" or "short take-off, barrier-arrested recovery") is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier, combining elements of "short take-off and vertical land ...

, allowing for a greater payload for more ordnance and/or fuel. CATOBAR can launch aircraft that lack a high

thrust to weight ratio Thrust-to-weight ratio is a dimensionless quantity, dimensionless ratio of thrust to weight of a rocket, jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller engine, or a vehicle propelled by such an engine that is an indicator of the performance of the eng ...

, including heavier non-fighter aircraft such as the

E-2 Hawkeye The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft ...

and

Grumman C-2 Greyhound The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft designed to carry supplies, mail, and passengers to and from aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Its primary mission is carrier onboard delivery (COD). The aircraft p ...

Types

The catapult system in use in most modern CATOBAR carriers is the

steam catapult An aircraft catapult is a device used to help fixed-wing aircraft gain enough airspeed and lift for takeoff from a limited distance, typically from the deck of a ship. They are usually used on aircraft carrier flight decks as a form of assist ...

. 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 and China completed the development of

electromagnetic catapult An electromagnetic catapult, also called EMALS ("electromagnetic aircraft launch system") after the specific US system, is a type of aircraft launching system. Currently, only the United States and China have successfully developed it, and it i ...

to launch carrier-based aircraft using a linear motor drive instead of steam. The electromagnetic catapult is found on the American ''Gerald R. Ford''-class carriers (the electromagnetic aircraft launch system) and the Chinese carrier ''Fujian''.

Current users

Following the decommissioning of Brazil's '' NAe São Paulo'' in February 2017, only three states currently operate carriers that use the CATOBAR system: the U.S. with its ''Nimitz''-class and ''Gerald R. Ford''-class, France with its ''

Charles De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

'', and China with its Type-003 ''Fujian''.

Active CATOBAR aircraft carrier classes

CATOBAR carriers under construction

List of CATOBAR aircraft

* F/A-18E/F – only operated by the US Navy. *

EA-18G The Boeing EA-18G Growler is an American carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet. The EA-18G replaced the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers in service with the United States Na ...

– only operated by the US Navy. *

C-2A The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft designed to carry supplies, mail, and passengers to and from aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Its primary mission is carrier onboard delivery (COD). The aircraft p ...

– only operated by the US Navy. *

F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

– only operated by the US Navy and Marine Corps. *

Rafale M The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range o ...

– only operated by the French Navy. * E-2C/D – only active with the US Navy and the French Navy. *

F-35C The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warfa ...

– only operated by the US Navy and Marine Corps. * J-15T - active in

PLAN A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an Goal, objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a modal logic, temporal set (mathematics), set of intended actions through wh ...

already. * KJ-600 - under development.

Potential users

The Chinese

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

(Type 003) features an

integrated electric propulsion Integrated electric propulsion (IEP), full electric propulsion (FEP) or integrated full electric propulsion (IFEP) is an arrangement of marine propulsion systems such that gas turbines or diesel generators or both generate three-phase electricity ...

system that will allow the operation of

s, similar to the

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is a type of electromagnetic catapult system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear in ...

(EMALS) used by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

INS Vishal INS ''Vishal'', also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 3 (IAC-3), is a planned aircraft carrier to be built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy. It is intended to be the third aircraft carrier to be built in India after (IAC-1) ...

, India's second indigenous aircraft carrier of the ''Vikrant''-class, is planned to be of 65,000 ton displacement and to utilize the EMALS catapults developed by

General Atomics General Atomics (GA) is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion en ...

, as it supports heavier fighters, AEW aircraft and UCAVs that cannot launch using a STOBAR ski jump ramps. Under Project Ark Royal, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

plans to install catapults and arrestor equipment to its two

-configured s to launch and recover combat drones which are being procured under

Project Vixen Project Vixen is the name of a Royal Navy programme examining the use of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from its two aircraft carriers. The project likely draws its name from the de Havilland Sea Vixen. The project is part of the navy' ...

. The Turkish defence industry is underway at developing an indigenous catapult system for

MUGEM-class aircraft carrier The MUGEM-class aircraft carrier is an initiative by the Turkish Navy to build a fully indigenous aircraft carrier. MUGEM is a Turkish acronym for , meaning "National Aircraft Carrier". The construction of the first MUGEM-class aircraft carrier ...

. With the ski-jump being modular by design, it will be removed and the ship would be reconfigured as a CATOBAR carrier with the indigenous catapult system currently under development.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catobar Aircraft carriers Naval aviation technology Types of take-off and landing