UK carrier to receive second EMALS production shipset, Fox confirms
By Peter Felstead 9/12/2011
Defence Security Report
"The second production shipset of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) being developed by General Atomics for the US Navy's upcoming Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carriers will be fitted to Prince of Wales, the British Queen Elizabeth (QE)-class carrier that will be configured for the F-35C carrier variant (CV) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the UK Defence Secretary has confirmed.
Speaking to Jane's in the run-up to the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition, held in London from 13-16 September, Dr Liam Fox said: "We now have a slot for the EMALS catapult system being fitted. It will be fitted first of all to the Gerald R Ford , then the next slot will be for the British carrier and the next slot will be for the American John F Kennedy carrier. So we've got that confirmed from the Americans now; the Americans have successfully tested it."
The US Navy first used EMALS to launch a manned aircraft, an F/A-18E Rhino strike fighter, on 18 December 2010 at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) EMALS trials facility at Lakehurst, New Jersey...."