General Atomics producing carrier EMALS system

SAN DIEGO, June 23 (UPI) -- The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear for the future aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy will be produced by General Atomics.

The company said the systems will be made under an undefinitized contract action from the U.S. Navy but did not give information as to its value, but an earlier announcement by the Department of Defense indicated it could be worth more than $700 million.

The company's work will include the production of equipment to support installation of EMALS and AAG into CVN 79.

"General Atomics is proud to be delivering this transformational technology to the Unites States Navy, now on the second ship in the Ford-class aircraft carrier, the John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)", said Dean Key, the director of Launch and Recovery Production Programs at GA's Electromagnetic Systems Group. "This is a great opportunity and GA has a great team assembled whose talents developing a first-of-kind system on the CVN 78 will allow us to pay that expertise forward for the CVN 79."

General Atomics said delivery of production hardware to the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard located in Newport News, Va., is expected to start in 2017.

EMALS uses a linear induction motor that uses electric currents to generate magnetic fields that propel a carriage down a track to launch an aircraft instead of a steam piston drive. The EMALS system takes us less space on the ship, recharges quickly and requires less maintenance