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 STOVL (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing.) and CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery).

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 light, and lightly armed, fighter aircraft that have a high thrust to weight ratio.

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems have been proposed for STOBAR operations.

Users

The Russian Navy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is the only current example of a STOBAR carrier. Under construction carriers that will feature a STOBAR configuration include the Chinese aircraft carrier ex-Varyag and the Indian INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Soviet carrier Admiral Gorshkov), as well as the future Vikrant class aircraft carrier.

When the 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 CATOBAR configuration.