Definition
A U.S. Navy shipboard system that uses precision radar to track an aircraft on final approach to an aircraft carrier and transmit guidance commands to the aircraft's autopilot, allowing a fully automatic, hands-off landing on the carrier deck.
Plain English
Equipment on a Navy aircraft carrier that talks directly to a plane's autopilot and flies the plane down onto the deck without the pilot moving the controls.
Context Anchor
Seen in military and naval aviation procedures, especially in carrier approach and landing discussions.
Derivation
The name describes its function in plain terms: 'automatic' (the system flies the approach without pilot input), 'carrier' (it operates between a ship and an aircraft), and 'landing system' (it guides the aircraft all the way to touchdown). No deeper origin is needed.
Why Pilots Care
Allows safe, precise landings in low visibility or at night, sharply reducing pilot workload and the risk of mishaps on a pitching, rolling deck.
Intuition Check
Do not read carrier as an airline here; it means an aircraft carrier ship. Do not read automatic as “the pilot is no longer involved”; the pilot still monitors the approach and must be ready to take control.
Example Sentence 1
The pilot coupled the autopilot to the Automatic Carrier Landing System and monitored the approach as the jet flew itself down to the deck.
Example Sentence 2
During carrier quals the squadron used the Automatic Carrier Landing System US to complete approaches in marginal weather.