Electromagnetic Catapult v Steam Catapult

choi

陈筠, 福建舰采传统动力却可电磁弹射 其庞大电力从何而来？ VOIA Chinese, June 26, 2022
https://www.voachinese.com/a/whe ... 220625/6633045.html
("它是中国第一艘电磁弹射系统取代滑跃式甲板 [ski-jump ramp] 的航母，可以搭载更多舰载机 [in part because displacement of 003 will be 80,000 tonnes (20,000 more than the two predecessor -- and in part because power supply and EMALS itself is much smaller than steam catapult] 和负重更多的油弹 [meaning 舰载机 may carry more 油 and/or 弹]，前两艘航母不能装载的大型固定翼空中预警机或反潜机也能在福建舰起降。而且由于预热 [alluding to catapult, not 舰载机] 时间短，战机起飞时间缩短，也代表战机能有更高频次的起降。  得注意的是，排水量八万余吨的福建舰采用的是传统动力而非核动力，但它装备了三条电磁弹射轨道。电磁弹射在战机起飞的瞬间需要大量电力")

Note:
(a) There is no need to read the rest, because the question is not answerable at the moment; China is mum.
(b)
(i) Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carrier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge ... ss_aircraft_carrier
(section 1 Design features: • Advanced arresting gear: 'The current system is unable to capture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) without damaging them" because UAVS are too light']
• An Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) in place of traditional steam catapults for launching aircraft.
• A new nuclear reactor design (the A1B reactor) for greater power generation
(ii) Gerald R Ford-class is to replace Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, which uses steam catapult.

(c) "电磁弹射在战机起飞的瞬间需要大量电力"
(i) Not just EMALS 电磁弹射. Steam catapult needs the same. In both, nose wheel (or nose landing gear) is fastened to the catapult.
(ii) Steam catapult deploys instantly created steam to push the (single) piston underneath the 舰载机; the steam is then released, not reused. Steam catapult itself is huge, high-maintenance, whereas EMALS has sensors to determine the weight of 舰载机 and alters traction accordingly.
(iii) EMALS is similar to railgun in principle. However, similarity ends here, as US Navy gave up railgun late last year, unable to get it to work.
(iv) EMALS obviates the medium (steam in steam catapult) and is hence more efficient in energy.

(d) US Navy spent a lot of time and efforts, prompting President Trump to whine.
(i) Sam LaGrone and Megan Eckstein, President Trump Wants Gerald Ford Carriers to Use 'Goddamned Steam' Catapults Instead of 'No Good' Electromagnetic Launchers. USNI News, May 11, 2017
https://news.usni.org/2017/05/11/presid
("rather than the new electromagnetic launch system that the Navy has been developing for more than a decade.  The unexpected comments from Trump came during a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine that were published on Thursday. Trump referred negatively to the 'digital catapult system' – a reference to the General Atomics Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) – and said it would take 'Albert Einstein to figure it out.' Trump stated his preference for the Ford-class carriers to use the older Mk [Mark] 13 steam catapult system that is used on the Nimitz-class carriers and the French carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91). * * * Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told USNI News Thursday afternoon that he would not comment on the president's remarks themselves, but he added, 'we have not briefed the president on the Ford program. He did go down to Newport News[, Virginia,] and visited the ship, was onboard the ship. And so I wasn't present for that visit, I don't know what his source of information was.'  A spokesperson for Ford-class shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries referred questions on Trump's comments to the Navy. A General Atomics spokeswoman who works with the EMALS program also referred questions on Trump's comments to the Navy")  

UK has has skip-jumps ramps, including the two in its Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
(ii) Mark D Faram, Trump Again Bashes EMALS Technology. Nav Times,
https://www.navytimes.com/news/y ... s-emals-technology/
("This time, his comments came as he discussed wasteful military spending, the Washington Post reported Sept 28.  'It's like when you get a new car and you have to be a computer genius to fix your seat,' Trump reportedly said. 'The seat's moving all over the place, it's unbelievable.'  
It's the second time he's spoken out against the Navy's new catapult technology"_
(iii) Wesley Morgan, Trump's Carrier Obsession Sets up Collision with Navy and Congress. May 28, 2019
https://www.politico.com/story/2 ... riers-steam-1473984
("he kicked his old-tech obsession up a notch during his visit to Japan * * * 'So I think I'm going to put an order: When we build a new aircraft carrier, we're going to use steam,' Trump told sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault shift USS Wasp at a Navy base south of Tokyo, speaking late Monday night US Eastern time. He renewed his complaint that the new technology could be unreliable during battle. 'We're spending all that money on electric, and nobody knows what it's going to be like in bad conditions. * * * The Navy opted not to comment on Trump’s latest remarks, instead referring all questions to the White House. The White House, in turn, did not respond to questions on whether Trump will formally order the Navy to abandon its new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System")

(e)
(i) The only video clips in the Web is:
New Supercarrier Ford Test Its Electromagnetic Catapult With F/A-18, EA-18G, T-45, E-2D, C-2A. YouTube.com, uploaded by "USA Military Channel" on Jan 22, 2020 (clip length: 10:09 minutes).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9wz1NtkfI
(ii) USA Military Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5bu8qvD-y0eo2A6yLfvr3A
is a subscription site in YouTube.com -- not a cable.