Meet Ma Weiming, the Chinese naval engineering genius behind the Fujian aircraft carrier catapult
Ma, father of the carrier’s electromagnetic launch system, is among a select few at the vessel’s commissioning ceremony
Known as the father of the Chinese electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), Ma also fundamentally altered naval warfare with a string of innovations that has put China “one generation ahead” in several critical areas.
There were no initial plans to equip the conventionally powered Fujian with the world’s most advanced catapult system – until Ma suggested it.
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China’s Fujian warship’s catapult reaches speeds that create an optical illusion
At the time, the only carrier equipped with the complex technology was the USS Gerald Ford, which entered service that year. Decades and billions of dollars later, the system has so far failed to launch its shipborne F-35C stealth fighters.
Ma, a professor at the PLA Naval University of Engineering who had been working for two decades on ship power technologies based on direct current (DC), was confident that his approach could be used to power a similarly advanced launch system.
“If we are doing it, we go for the cutting-edge. If we want to lead, we overtake the Americans,” he told the state broadcaster. “We should never wait until foreigners make it and then follow.”