{{refimprove, date=February 2011 A navalised aircraft (or navalized aircraft) is an

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

that has been specifically designed for naval use, in some cases as a variant of a land-based design. An aircraft based on an aircraft carrier is called carrier-based aircraft.

Characteristics

A navalised aircraft typically differs from its land-based equivalent by: * The airframe, engine and

avionics Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...

are marinised against salt water

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engi ...

. * It is designed to be used on a

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...

. For a fixed wing aircraft this typically means catapult attachment points, a

tailhook A tailhook, arresting hook, or arrester hook is a device attached to the empennage (rear) of some military fixed-wing aircraft. The hook is used to achieve rapid deceleration during routine landings aboard aircraft carrier flight decks at sea, ...

and strengthened undercarriage. Naval helicopters usually have wheels rather than skids and may have mechanisms to attach to the deck. * It is designed to occupy minimum hangar space – for example the wings, tail-boom or rotors may fold. * There is enhanced protection against water ingress (including that from hosing down with fresh water to get rid of salt water). * Equipment such as sensors and weapons are optimised for naval roles. * The avionics is compatible with the complex electronic equipment of a warship, and that there is no electromagnetic interference between the two. * There is provision for

ditching In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water su ...

at sea. * Helicopters may have provision for receiving fuel through the cabin while hovering adjacent to a ship. For safety reasons, the aviation fuel provided by ships may be different (e.g. AVCAT) from that provided by airfields and tanker aircraft.

Examples

The

T-45 Goshawk The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 i ...

is a navalised version of the

BAE Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

jet trainer A jet trainer is a jet aircraft for use as a trainer, whether for basic or advanced flight training. Jet trainers are either custom designs or modifications of existing aircraft. With the introduction of military jet-powered aircraft towards the e ...

. Differences from the Hawk include changes to the undercarriage for aircraft carrier compatibility and a strengthened airframe. The engine design was also modified for the aircraft's role at sea. A proposed navalised version of the

Alpha Jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, as ...

would have had similar design modifications.http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%201042.html Flightglobal article from 1991 Other examples of navalised variants of land-based aircraft include: * British Aerospace Sea Harrier * Dassault Rafale M *

Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. Some versions were built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry Co Ltd British variants Hurricane Mk I ; Hurricane Mk I ( ...

Mikoyan MiG-29K The Mikoyan MiG-29K (russian: Микоян МиГ-29K; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) is a Russian all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau. The MiG-29K was developed in the late 1980s from ...

* North American FJ-2 & FJ-3 Fury * Supermarine Seafire *

Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificat ...

References

Naval aviation technology