The US Navy’s future generation arresting system for aircraft carriers known as advanced arresting gear (AAG) has completed its first phase of extended reliability testing (ERT).

During the first phase of testing conducted by General Atomics (GA), more than 5,400 shipboard-representative arrestments were tested to incur reliability growth data and verify the functionality of the real-time control software.

The AAG is on track to be installed on the US Navy super carrier CVN 78, and will also be equipped on several Nimitz Class carriers.

Phase 1 of ERT was put forward to reduce the risks associated with future dead-load arrestment testing, which will be carried out in spring 2010 followed by aircraft arrestment testing scheduled for late 2010.

The equipment will be tested for an additional 104,000 cycles during phase 2, which i sscheduled for February 2011 at GA’s manufacturing and test facility in Tupelo, Mississippi.