How particular is a wire rope on an aircraft carrier? Why stumped the two superpowers ?

Mondo Military Updated on 2024-02-17

Back in 2022,American aircraft carrier "Carl Vinson".It has been exposedIt happened togetherCarrier-based aircraft landing accident, as a result of which 7 crew members were injured.

The United States did not announce the specific circumstances of the accident, but according to some of the details revealed, there is a good chance that it isThe blocking cord is brokenAs a result, people in the vicinity were injured, and then the carrier-based aircraft could have fallen into the water.

This is not the first time that the US aircraft carrier blocking cable has had problems, and Russia is also very troubled by the problem of the aircraft carrier blocking cable.

At this time, you may say, isn't it on the aircraft carrierA wire ropeIs it? Isn't it enough to be hard enough? Why are the two "superpowers" stumped?

In fact, the problem of the aircraft carrier arresting cable is not as simple as everyone thinks, first of all, let's get to know the blocking cable, you will know why this tightrope makes the superpowers love and hate.

We all know thatAn aircraft carrier is a mobile platform at seaIt can support the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft and other daily training.

But actually, ifOnly on the runway on the deck of the aircraft carrier,It is not enough to support the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft.

For example, the aircraft carrier with the largest tonnage in the world, the USS FordThe length is 337 meters, the length of its deck that can be used for the landing of carrier-based aircraft in factOnly less than 300 meters.

What's more, the effective use of space for this 300-meter length may only be about 200 meters, after all, when the fighter lands, it will generally fall in the front position of the tail of the aircraft carrier, mainlyIncrease the fault tolerance for landingsOtherwise, it is easy to fall directly into the sea.

In general, the glide distance of the carrier-based aircraft after landing is inBetween 500 and 800 metersSome fighters may be longer (VTOL fighters are not included).

Therefore, when the fighter landed on the aircraft carrier, one was neededExternal forces "unloaded".At this time, the blocking cable came into being.

The blocking cable is also calledThe "lifeline" of carrier-based aircraft,If the tail hook fails to hook the arrestor line during landing, the pilot must accelerate forward and take off again, otherwise it will fall overboard.

The time for the aircraft to come to a complete halt is only 2 to 3 seconds, which requires strong coordination and operational skills from the pilots and ground personnel.

Of course, the error tolerance rate of only one arresting cable is relatively low, after all, there will always be times when the pilot makes a mistake, and if the carrier-based aircraft is too far forward to hook the arresting cable when landing, there will be a big problem.

Therefore, many large aircraft carriers are generally equipped with them4 to 6 blocking cablesto increase the tolerance for the landing of carrier-based aircraft.

Don't look at this small wire rope, there is no "gold content", but in factThere are a lot of points to be paid attention toEven the United States and Russia are feeling a headache.

There are many technologies involved in the arresting cable, including mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, etc., which is a huge project.

Among them, there are three core points, one of which is to require blocking cablesThere is enough intensityto withstand the instantaneous impact of carrier-based aircraft.

If it's a light carrier-based aircraft, it's fine, but if it's a heavy carrier-based aircraft like the J-15, you have to pay more attention to the strength of the blocking cable.

Take the J-15 as an example, its maximum take-off weight is as high as more than 30 tons, and the normal take-off weight is about 27 tons.

The smashing of a 27-ton carrier-based aircraft on the deck of an aircraft carrier is equivalent to 27 pickup trucks falling from the sky, and the scene is like "ten thousand horses galloping."

The wire rope of general material cannot withstand this impactSpecial materials are required as raw materials

At this time, you may say, since the strength is required, wouldn't it be nice to make the blocking cable a little thicker?

In fact,The blocking rope should not be made too roughThis is not conducive to the tail hook of the carrier-based aircraft to hook the arresting cable.

Second, there must be a blocking cableGood toughnessThis is because the force of the carrier-based aircraft after landing is very large, and the blocking cable with toughness can play a good cushioning role.

If it is the kind of blocking cable that is very hard and lacks toughness, under the strong momentum, the fighter may be directly torn in half.

Third, the need for blocking cablesSufficient resistance to fatigue and continuous working capacity.

You must know that whether it is the daily training work of carrier-based aircraft or the performance of other tasks, the blocking cable must be used.

Especially in wartime, the average daily take-off of carrier-based aircraft can be reachedHundreds of sorties, which requires a blocking cable "escort".

In general, under the condition of high-strength continuous work, fatigue will occur, resulting in a decrease in strength, and it is easy to break.

This problem has not been well resolved until nowThe United States and Russia have frequently broken the blocking cableIt's the best proof of that.

The technology of the American blocking cable is much better, but the Russian one is called poor, and the only one of their aircraft carriers uses the technology left over from the Soviet era, plus the follow-up maintenance work is not very goodProblems are to be expected

China has not had an aircraft carrier capable of carrying carrier-based aircraft for a long time, soIn the field of blocking cable development relatively late,ButThe technology is definitely not bad.

China was the first to conduct an experiment on the blocking cable on the Liaoning ship, and you must know that the landing distance reserved for carrier-based aircraft on the deck of this aircraft carrier is less than 200 meters.

More importantly, China's J-15 carrier-based aircraft are one of the fewHeavy carrier-based aircraft, it requires a longer buffer distance.

In terms of the research and development of blocking cables, China first conquered the special materials needed and invited a number of domestic experts to coordinate and control.

We attach great importance to the quality of the blocking cable, once there is any foreboding tendency, we will immediately investigate the cause in an all-round way, and repeatedly carry out technical verification to ensure the stability of the blocking cable.

In a very short period of time, we have developed a blocking cable to meet the landing needs of carrier-based aircraft, and we have continuously polished and upgraded it to achieve today's achievements.

I have to say that China has done a really good job in the blocking cable, which has led many people to think that the blocking cable used by the US aircraft carrier may still beSecretly bought from China.

We don't care if you bought it from China or not, but you can always trust the quality of Made in China.

Project Sword

References:

1] Zhang Liwei. Preliminary understanding of the "blocking cable" of aircraft carriers[J].Physics Teaching**,2014, 32(4):56-58

2] Guilin. *Aircraft carrier arresting cables and their improvement methods: taking 4 arresting cables as an example[J].Heilongjiang Science & Technology Information, 2013(11):65-65

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