Modern discussions about adding light catapults for drones can mislead if every catapult is imagined as a steam system. Early carrier catapults were commonly pneumatic. Steam catapults became a post-Second World War technology rather than standard prewar equipment. A light drone launcher might therefore draw more from early pneumatic principles than from full CATOBAR machinery.
Notable Point · 2:14:15-2:14:42
Early carrier catapults were pneumatic, not steam
Light drone-launch proposals have more in common with early pneumatic catapults than with postwar steam systems.