Why are other countries not named Brazil or France so afraid of the steam/EM catapult?
Cats are expensive and cantankerous....The French use cats for the same reason we do - because they always have.
Not only are they expensive to operate and maintain but developing them is an even bigger expense. The biggest reason the French still operate catapults, they bought the ones on their current carrier from us. They also do all their land-based testing of their Rafale at Lakenhurst, it is the only land-based catapult testing place left in the world. For the French to use American catapults instead of developing their own, when they have made their own version of almost everything else but E-2's, shows you how hard it is.
I remember the amount of $1-2 billion being thrown around to modify just one of the UK's new carriers to be fitted with catapults.
The Indians are already building their own boats. Vikrant is afloat, another is under construction. They also overhauled and modified a Kiev they bought off the Russians - it was apparently such a nightmare program that they went to indigenous-build only.
Actually it was the Russians that modified the old
Admiral Gorshkov and while you are right it was a disaster they have always intended to build their own boats, they just desperately needed replacement for the
Viraat fast since she was launched over 60 years ago.