CCTV reported that the catapult being tested to launch aircraft

 

The middle pic left+above the blue workshop is 2008 dug, long trench is a steam catapult, the military has approved.
right below the test site in 2012 and again in 2014 a new trench dug, the pict shows the project has been completed, this is obviously the electromagnetic launcher.


Taipei, 2015/03/06 (CNA) A recently unveiled satellite photo showing China testing an aircraft carrier launch system has led experts to believe China has made a breakthrough in the design of its catapult system.

China's CCTV reported that the catapult being tested to help planes take off quickly is more efficient than the "ski-jump" ramp used to launch aircraft on China's first carrier, the Liaoning.

The report said the catapult enables aircraft to be launched quickly, upgrading their combat efficiency.

Li Li (李莉), a military expert in China, said catapult takeoff device technology is currently dominated by the United States. But if the satellite photo is true, it means that China has "made a groundbreaking and strategic breakthrough" in aircraft carrier technology.

Li said both steam and electromagnetic catapults are used to launch aircraft, with the United States the first country to use the electromagnetic launch system.

Steam catapults have their limitations, Li said, while electromagnetic catapults enable planes to take off without worrying about weather conditions and are therefore more strategically significant.

The recently unveiled satellite photo showed a catapult track and auxiliary experimental equipment, which Cao Weidong (曹衛東), a researcher at the People's Liberation Army's Naval Research Institute, analyzed could be used as an experimental platform for steam and electromagnetic catapults.

He said China is developing catapults to promote the development of its aircraft carriers, explaining that the currently used ramp system cannot launch early warning fixed-wing aircraft, restraining its combat capabilities.

Cao said China will not only build an aircraft carrier, but also upgrade the ship's combat capabilities, including making use of a catapult, which has become the trend among aircraft carriers.

If China has sufficient funds and the right technology, the aircraft carriers it manufactures will adopt electromagnetic aircraft launch systems, Cao said.

(by Yin Chun-chieh and Lilian Wu)
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China’s Electromagnetic Catapult More Advanced than US

Mil.huanqiu.com says in its report today that according to Hong Kong Commercial Daily, China’s catapult for takeoff of carrier-based aircrafts is entirely problem free in technology. It is even better than that of the US.

Outsiders are very much interested whether China’s first homegrown aircraft carrier will adopt ski-jump takeoff like that of the Liaoning or the most advanced electromagnetic catapult assisted takeoff. If the catapult is used, a carrier-based fighter jet may have much longer range and carry much more weapons.

Major General Ma Weiming, the inventor of China’s electromagnetic catapult, pointed out that lots of practices have proved that there were no problems at all in China’s catapult technology. He is confident that the catapult can be used.

General Ma has won quite a few National Science and Technology Progress Awards first class and is regarded by outsiders as a “national treasure” in military technology.

At reporters’ repeated questions whether China’s homegrown aircraft carrier will use electromagnetic catapult, he pointed at the one star on his uniform and said with a smile that he was only a technical general in charge of research and development of the technology that can be used. Only PLA top management can decide which technology should be used.

Source: mil.huanqiu.com “Hong Kong media: Major general discloses that China’s electromagnetic catapult not less but even more advanced than that of the US”
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Brazilian Navy : São Paulo aircraft carrier

São Paulo is a Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Brazilian Navy. The São Paulo was first commissioned in 1963 by the French Navy as the Foch and was transferred in 2000 to Brazil, where she became the new flagship of the Brazilian Navy. 

In December 2014 it was announced that São Paulo will be expected to continue active service until 2039, at which time the vessel will be nearly 80 years old.