Ideas spawn ideas, thus a 20,000-ton aircraft carrier, spared of
arrester wires and catapults, but carrying F-35 fighters and when necessary helicopters of various capabilities would seem to be more logical than the ship proposed in the article.
The carriers' landing decks were to be converted to allow a new version of the Joint Strike Fighter to be catapulted from the decks and caught by
arrester wires.
Due to the higher weights of the new (Sea Vampire) aircraft there was also a problem with arrester wires and the strength of barriers.
As the arrester wires were not repositioned, only touch and go landings could be made.
The ship will have two takeoff runways and a landing strip with three
arrester wires.
The Indian ship will operate twelve MiG-29 mixed role aircraft and half-a-dozen 'Helix' and, like the Admiral Kuznetsov, will feature an angled flight deck with
arrester wires to recover the fixed-wing aircraft.
On return to the Ark, her deck rising and falling by 60ft, his fuel practically run out, he missed the
arrester wires and only halted when his tailhook caught on the crash barrier, pulling him down, just missing the aircraft ahead.
However, after examining the two hit vehicles we found the surge
arrester wires had somehow come loose.
The deck itself is not fitted with
arrester wires to "catch" landing jets because the Sea Harrier is capable of landing vertically.
