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The Navy announced on Friday that the service has “decided to pause” research and development of the much-hyped electromagnetic railgun (or EMRG) at the end of 2021 in light of “fiscal constraints, combat system integration challenges and the prospective technology maturation of other weapon concepts,” according to a …
How does an electromagnetic rail gun work?
How Does a Railgun Work? The basic principle behind a railgun is that it uses an electric current to create a magnetic field. Current travels from the power source up one rail, through the projectile which acts as a connecting wire, and back down the other parallel rail.
Is Navy a rail gun?
In July 2017, the Office of Naval Research announced that the Navy’s electromagnetic railgun was ready for field demonstrations. BATH, Maine — The U.S. Navy has pulled the plug, for now, on a futuristic weapon that fires projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound using electricity.
Does the Navy have a rail gun?
The first is meeting the weapon’s massive power requirements at sea. The second is demonstrating that it’ll be ‘better’ than existing weapons. The railgun launches rounds using electromagnetic force rather than explosive propellant. The USN prototype has 100MJ of pulse-power capacitors and a 25MW powerplant for recharging.
The railgun concept itself is also out of step with the Navy’s reorientation toward great power conflict, particularly a possible war with China or Russia.
Will the US Navy build its own railgun?
The U.S. navy has contracted General Atomics and BAE Systems to develop its own version of the railgun. A prototype weapon fired several rounds last year, but that occurred on a testing range, not aboard a warship.
What happened to the Navy’s $500 million hypersonic railgun program?
The U.S. Navy’s push to create a $500 million electromagnetic railgun weapon —capable of slinging projectiles at hypersonic speeds—appears to have come to an end. The service is ending funding for the railgun without having sent a single weapon to sea, while pushing technology derived from the program into existing weapons.