Aircraft carriers rely on an arresting gear system — a complex network of steel cables and hydraulics — to stop jets landing at high speeds on their short decks. When a pilot lands, the jet’s tailhook catches one of several arresting wires stretched across the deck. Each wire is made of high-tensile steel and anchored to a series of pulleys connected to massive hydraulic cylinders below the surface. As the cable is pulled out, the hydraulic system absorbs the jet’s kinetic energy by forcing flui