Navy Lands Fighter Jet on Carrier Deck Using ATARI Joystick

Crew members on an aircraft carrier recently landed a fighter jet on the deck using a video game-like joystick.

According to the Navy Times, an operator on the ship took control of an F/A-18 while it was in the air and was able to glide it down onto the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, where it came to rest during a test last month.

The system is called ATARI — short for aircraft terminal approach remote inceptor and not related to the popular video game console that debuted in the 1970s. A landing signal officer (LSO) uses a joystick and other tools to fly and land a jet. It was developed in 2016 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.

"You're effectively using little joystick controllers . . . and it's almost like you're playing a video game," NAVAIR senior engineer and ATARI creator Buddy Denham said, according to the Times.

The test featured rough seas, which caused the ship to rock and sway during the landing.

"The deck was pitching significantly and yawing and rolling," Denham said. "It was particularly difficult to land that day, and we showed it's possible to use this system even when the conditions aren't ideal."

In 2013, the Navy landed a drone the size of a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier for the first time. In that case, the drone took off from Naval Air Station Patuxent River and landed on the USS George H.W. Bush, which at the time was off the coast of Virginia.

Drones controlled by remote operators have been used for years on the battlefield. Engineers are now testing mini drones for future military use.

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