An electromagnetic catapult for launching heavy drones from small vessels

The paper presents the results of mathematical modeling of the operation of a novel electromagnetic catapult design. The main elements of the latter are a single-section multi-rail accelerator with a metal armature and a pulsed energy source based on the powerful pulsed MHD generator and current-increasing transformer. The possibilities of such a scheme for accelerating bodies weighing $7$ tons to speeds of about $150$ km/h at a maximum permissible acceleration of $15 g$ are investigated. The mathematical model describes the coordinated operation of the device, starting with connecting of the pulsed MHD generator in idle mode to the primary winding of the transformer and up to the moment when the drone accelerates to a given takeoff speed. Using the proposed model, the efficiency of the electromechanical energy conversion in the developed catapult scheme is tested. The parameters of the main elements of the device, namely the length of the acceleration section of the catapult and the maximum acceleration of the drone, are determined.