Electromagnetic "RailGun"

The Navy's newest weapon has finally arrived. The electromagnetic 'railgun' made its public debut on February 5^th of this year aboard Naval military vessels. The electromagnetic railgun program was initiated in 2005 and phase-1 focused on developing the launcher, pulsed power, and risk reduction for the projectile. Phase-1 was a success, achieving a 32 mega-joule muzzle energy proof-of-concept demonstration. In 2012, Phase -2 further advanced the technology by establishing firing rate of 10 rounds per minute. Thermal management techniques required for sustained firing rates will be developed for both the launcher system and the pulsed power system.

Now what is an electromagnetic railgun? The railgun is a long range weapon that fires projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants or explosives. Magnetic fields created by high electrical currents accelerate a sliding metal conductor, or armature, between two rails to launch projectiles at 4500 mph. The electromagnetic railgun works by using electricity, generated and stored by the ship, over several seconds in the pulsed power system to send an electric pulse to the railgun which creates an electromagnetic force accelerating the projectile up to Mach 6 (4500 mph).

This new weapon will give the Navy multi-mission capability, allowing them to conduct precise naval surface fire support or land strikes, ship defense, and surface warfare. Naval planners are targeting a 100 plus nautical mile initial capability. The projectiles that are used are called Hyper Velocity Projectiles or HVP. It's designed to be a guided projectile with low drag for high-velocity, maneuverability, and decreased time-to-target. It has advanced guidance electronics. The HVP will be 24 inches long and weigh 28 pounds. This makes the ammunition easy to handle and transport. By firing smaller projectiles at extremely high velocities, they are able to yield kinetic energy impacts equal or superior to the destructive energy of 5" Naval guns, but with much greater range. This decreases ammunition size and weight, allows more ammunition to be carried, and eliminates the hazards of carrying explosives or propellants in a tank or naval weapons platform.

Another benefit of the electromagnetic railgun is cost effectiveness. Ballistic missiles and rockets, as well as the jet fuel and propulsion systems that accompany them, cost millions of dollars. An example of this is the Interceptor Missile which are currently used to defend the United States against enemy missiles. These long-range interceptors require complex systems to find incoming missile threats, intercept, and destroy them before they hit the United States or our allies. They are large and expensive, with some interceptor missiles costing $10 million each. Now instead of spending millions of dollars per shot, a rail gun projectile will cost around $35,000, or even less with further development.