General Atomics Tests New Aircraft Carrier Arresting Gear; Scott Forney Quoted

General Atomics’ electromagnetic systems business has demonstrated a technology designed to facilitate an aircraft’s recovery sequence on Ford-class carriers.

The advanced arresting gear functioned in consecutive cycles to sustain a one-per-minute aircraft arrestment rate during a test on the USS Gerald R. Ford in Lakehurst, N.J., the company said Friday.

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet units joined the test to help the carrier simulate the speed of flight operations.

The system uses turbo-electric technology to decelerate an aircraft upon recovery.

Scott Forney, president of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, stated that the USS Gerald R. Ford holds the capacity and wires needed to perform at higher operational speeds than shown in the test.

“We look forward to CVN 78 getting back out to sea in early 2020 to conduct more robust flight operations,” Forney noted.