Maximum aircraft weight a carrier catapult can launch?

Dave Bowles wrote:

The cats haven't changed much over the years. The A-3 was about the
biggest thig to ever get catted off the pointy end, and that 73,000
pounds was approaching the max. I recall 80,000 pounds from a chat
many years ago. An article on an NAS Lakehurst site tells of shooting
a 79,000 pound sled, so that's about right.


Carrier suitability trials of the already-cancelled F-111B were conducted on
Coral Sea in 1968. That aircraft had a nominal "loaded weight" of 79,000
pounds.