STOBAR

The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with a ski-jump for STOBAR

STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier, combining elements of both short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) with catapult-assisted take-off but with arrested recovery (CATOBAR).

Aircraft launch under their own power using a ski-jump to assist take-off (rather than using a catapult like most carriers). However, these are conventional, rather than STOVL aircraft, and thus require arrestor wires to land on the ship. The STOBAR system is simpler to build than CATOBAR — but it works only with aircraft that have a high thrust to weight ratio. As of 2015, it has only been used regularly on Russian, Indian, and Chinese carriers.

Advantages

Compared to catapult-assisted take-off but with arrested recovery(CATOBAR), STOBAR is less expensive to develop. It is easier to operate than a CATOBAR configuration which requires large number of operators to launch the aircraft. Lack of any moving parts in ski-jump makes it less expensive to maintain the launch system.^[1][2] It does not require any additional system to generate force required to launch the aircraft unlike CATOBAR where an external force is needed to be generated either from steam catapult^[3] or Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System(EMALS)^[4] to launch the aircraft.

Limitations

Construction of the ski-jump on INS Vikramaditya

One major limitation of STOBAR configuration is that it only works with aircraft that have a high thrust to weight ratio such as Su-33 or MiG-29K and thus limits the kind of aircraft that can be operated from the carrier. In order to be airborne aircraft may require to limit the weaponry and size of the aircraft to reduce the weight of the aircraft.^[1][5] Short take off using ski-jump leads to more stress on the airframes of the aircrafts and thus limiting the ability to conduct sorties faster on STOBAR aircraft carrier.^[6]

STOBAR Capable Aircraft

Mikoyan MiG-29K- currently active with The Indian navy and Russian navy has placed orders for MiG-29k to operate them from Admiral Kuznetsov.^[7]

Sukhoi Su-33- Developed from su-27 and only operated by Russia.

Shenyang J-15- operated by People's Liberation Army Navy on Liaoning^[8]

F-35C -Lockheed Martin is trying to determine if the F35C can be used as a STOBAR fighter.^[9]

HAL Tejas (NP-1) short take-off during test flight.

Dassault Rafale- is STOBAR compatible, after several simulations conducted by Dassault Aviation, the Rafale is able, with no modification, to take-off from a ski-jump carrier^[10] and the Indian Navy could consider it for a future acquisition.^[11]

Eurofighter Typhoon- was proposed for the British Royal Navy's Future Carrier Borne Aircraft, it was envisaged that they would operate in a STOBAR configuration. Instead, the Joint Combat Aircraft will be deployed on the next generation Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers in a STOVL configuration.^[12]

HAL Tejas- Naval Tejas is a variant of HAL Tejas Developed for Indian navy. A prototype (np-1) is currently under flight testing.^[13][14][15]

Users

The Russian Navy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is the first STOBAR carrier. Other aircraft carriers that feature a STOBAR configuration include the Indian INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Soviet carrier Admiral Gorshkov), as well as the INS Vikrant, the vikrant class aircraft carrier and the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (formerly the Soviet carrier Varyag) .

References