General Atomics signed a $19,6 million contract for Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) spare parts in support of the CVN-78 aircraft carrier.

The deal, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, provides for the manufacture, assembly, inspection, integration, test and delivery of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) spare parts in support of the Ford-class CVN-78 prior to the Advanced Arresting Gear and EMALS material support dates. 

According to a statement, General Atomics, Electromagnetics Systems Group, is awarded $19,6 million for firm-fixed-price delivery order N0001919F2406 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0006).

Work is expected to be completed in January 2023.  

The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is designed to replace the steam catapult systems currently used on the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the first carrier to use EMALS. John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and Enterprise (CVN 80) are also scheduled to install and use EMALS.

The electrically-powered Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and EMALS are two of the primary features that differentiate a Ford-class carrier from a Nimitz class.

Due to its flexible architecture, EMALS can launch a wide variety of aircraft weights and can be used on a variety of platforms with differing catapult configurations.