We did a story a while back (we can read it here) about EMALS, the United States Navy’s brand-spanking new aircraft carrier launch system that utilizes the wonder of electromagnetism to propel military aircraft to the speed they need to lift off and get airborne. It basically simulates the velocity they’d normally obtain from going down a runway on land, that’s obviously much longer.

The acronym stands for Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System. Pretty straightforward.

As we alluded to in the original post, the technology is still in its testing phase. Traditionally, that’s not a fun part of any process. Testing EMALS, however, is the exception to this rule. It’s loads of fun, as you can see in the GIF and these two videos, one of which is from the view of a GoPro strapped to one of the “unpowered” trucks they’re catapulted off the carrier to simulate a plane attempting to take off.

Who could get tired of doing this all day?

Foxtrot Alpha