EMKIT - Commissioning and performance testing of a technical demonstrator for the electromagnetic catapult launch of UAV's

摘要

This paper forms part of a series of papers covering the application of Electro-Magnetic (EM) launch technology to the launch of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Royal Navy platforms. Fundamentally it covers the development of a UK based EM catapult technical demonstrator. The project background and requirements are discussed and an overview of the test facility, system and its present state of development are given. Design challenges, basic commissioning procedure and formulation of the testing program to demonstrate the technology is then discussed.