Master F.L.,
I have carried out several researches in recent years on a similar subject that could be useful in your proposition.
My thesis is the development of a doctrine that is 2 or 3 steps away from the Arapaho and Scads concept.
It consists of you, following the example of the RFA, in which it designs special requirements for merchant ships that can be called up for the war effort, creating an auxiliary merchant plant with dual military and merchant functions with pre-availability kits.
One of the aspects among these kits consists of you redesigning the SATS system used in Chu Lai.
Note that a centrifugal catapult powered by one or two F-414 engines can provide the necessary complement of launching power if added to a ski jump. The structure of a ski jump is very simple and so is this type of catapult. It would work in a combined or complementary way depending on the maximum weight of the plane. It is worth remembering that in 80% of operations the plane takes off lightly and even the catapult would be dispensable when the plane was configured for air defense.
The next kit would be the Arresting gears stop cables. The sats system also had this equipment. Obviously all of this would have to be redesigned in order to make sense on a naval platform between 212 meters and 260 meters of smooth deck. But we must remember that the Sats system was designed for improvised ground operations, with zero relative wind, no ski jump, and obstacles of 50 feet at the end of the runway, whereas on a ship the plane would be 40-50 meters high.
Well, include this concept and you would be able to achieve these goals, even in a tiny Chacri naruebet. The limits are actually linked to the hangar capacity or onboard naval aircraft fuel. Small air groups do not require much deck movement and there is no way to congest it with just 8 to 12 units...
