A closer look
Modern aircraft carriers use massive, steam-powered or electromagnetic catapults to launch thirty-ton fighter jets off a runway that is roughly the length of three football fields. A regular jet needs thousands of feet to reach takeoff velocity, so the military essentially built a giant, high-tech slingshot that aggressively yanks the aircraft from zero to one hundred and seventy miles per hour in under three seconds. The acceleration force is so intense that pilots have to lock their helmets back to prevent their own necks from snapping during the violent launch process. It is a wildly impressive display of brute engineering force, funded by billions of taxpayer dollars, designed specifically to throw a very expensive piece of explosive metal off a floating nuclear city just because building a longer boat was deemed too difficult
