After several years of vociferous advocacy by Congressmen Chris Smith and Jim Saxton, President Bush has provided more than $20 million in his just-released FY 04 budget proposal to develop a state-of-the-art carrier launching system at Navy Lakehurst.  

    “The President’s proposal puts the development of the next generation of aircraft carrier launch and recovery at our base,” Smith said.  “Lakehurst is the heart of naval aviation and this mission underscores the central role our base plays in U.S. National Security.”  

    The President’s budget plan includes $20.681 million to build a land-based testing site at Lakehurst NAES for the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS).  This project will bring dual advantages of dramatic improvements in the launching of aircraft from carriers, as well as helping to keep Navy Lakehurst strong and able to survive future base closings.  

    “The President’s support for the EMALS program is yet another indicator of just how important this project – and Navy Lakehurst overall – are to the entire Navy,” Smith (NJ-4), who represents Navy Lakehurst, said Smith.  

    “EMALS is just the latest high quality investment we’ve added to Lakehurst.  EMALS, in conjunction with the brand new $15 million Superlab that opened last year and the state-of-the-art fire station that is being built, will all help Pentagon officials see that Navy Lakehurst is and must continue to be an invaluable asset to our military,” he added. 

    “The EMALS project is a lynchpin to the next generation of aircraft carriers recently backed by the Defense Department,” said Rep. Jim Saxton, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.  “The decision for the Navy to build it here is a leap forward. Since Lakehurst is a main source of employment to the South Jersey economy, this project is very positive news for the future of the bases, especially as we approach BRAC in 2005.” 

    EMALS is a $373 million Navy program to replace the current generation of steam-based catapults on aircraft carriers, and install new systems to launch aircraft using electromagnetic energy.  The CVN-21 next-generation aircraft carrier, which will begin construction in 2007, will be the first carrier to field the EMALS system.  

    The EMALS system, once it has been tested and proven at Lakehurst, will:  (a) reduce the stress on airframes during launch, lengthening their service life and saving future procurement requirements, (b) reduce manning requirements on aircraft carriers, thereby cutting current operating costs, (c) increase aircraft sortie rates and boost carrier firepower, and (d) improve the safety and reliability of one the Navy’s most mission-critical systems aboard the aircraft carrier. 

    Smith said he was pleased that the Administration responded to language he had inserted in last year’s Defense Bill (PL 107-314) urging the Navy to build EMALS at Lakehurst.  

    “The construction of the EMALS land-based site at Lakehurst is a huge win for the base, its employees, and local businesses,” Smith said. “The Bush Budget is proof that the Navy realizes that without Lakehurst, it cannot complete the CVN-21 next generation aircraft carrier program on schedule and within its budget.”

    Under the Navy’s current plan for CVN-21, two rival contractors (Northrup Grumman and General Atomics) are in the process of setting up smaller-scale, fully functioning models of EMALS at Lakehurst.  Lakehurst’s engineers will monitor and evaluate the performance of the two contractor systems, and then the Navy will “downselect,” or choose, one of the two contractors to produce the system for the Navy’s future carriers in the first or second quarter of 2004.  A full scale of the winning design will be built at Lakehurst with the $20.681 million in the Bush FY2004 plan, and Lakehurst will then test and prove the technology so that EMALS systems can be installed on the CVN-21 starting in 2007.