The amount of electromagnetic energy released from this system is low and contained on the surface vessel. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. In 2016, the Navy The kinetic energy weapon (commonly referred to as the rail gun) will be tested aboard surface vessels, firing explosive and non-explosive projectiles at air-or sea-based targets. Army Forges Ahead With Its Railgun As Navy's Commitment To The Tech Is QuestionedThe Navy may have been the loudest about its railgun dreams, but the Army is quietly moving ahead with turning the tech into something deployable.Watch The Navy's Electromagnetic Railgun's Autoloader Feed A Multi-Shot SalvoThe railgun dream is inching closer to reality, but the gun's hyper velocity ammo may be pushed into service first.U.S. The U.S. Navy electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) project was first conceived in 2003, and the Office of Naval Research began development in 2005.

The Zumwalt-class destroyer is a class of three United States Navy guided missile destroyers designed as multi-mission stealth ships with a focus on land attack. However, the Zumwalt has been cancelled and no further units will be built. '"But with the railgun now engaged in a new set of tests at White Sands and renewed talk of at-sea tests in the future, it certainly seems that the program is finally "going somewhere" after more than a decade of development.Technology, performance and design delivered to your inbox.We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Despite What You've Heard, The Navy Isn't Ditching Its Railgun And Budget Docs Prove ItThe service is still moving ahead with the electromagnetic weapon, which takes on new significance given recent Chinese developments.U.S. The service believes that railgun's hypervelocity projectiles and ability to hit targets, even fast moving ones, at extended ranges, could make it capable of performing air and missile defense roles, destroying ships at sea, and engaging targets on land. A June 2017 Congressional Research Service report Still, the arrival of a shipboard tactical demonstrator can't get here soon enough. In 2017, by all accounts, Chief of Naval Operations U.S. Navy Admiral John Richardson instituted a gag order on virtually any public discussion of substantive details about the railgun program by Navy officials or representatives from BAE Systems, which is the prime contractor. Generating the railgun's electromagnetic fields requires a capacitor base that only "While the Navy NWTT EIS/OEIS appears to indicate that service may have cracked the code for power generation, the success of the railgun is also contingent on the development of a universal "common mount" for equipping surface vessels with a tactical version of the ONR prototype. “I don’t know if I can get there from the engineering status yet. The video below shows an earlier live-fire test of the Navy's experimental railgun at a test site in Virginia in 2016. Jared Keller is the deputy editor of Task & Purpose. The system uses stored electrical energy to accelerate the projectiles, which are fired at supersonic speeds over great distances. It was intended to take the place of … If the Navy can prove that the technology is practical and cost-effective, it could be a revolutionary development for naval warfare. You can read more about the railguns potential capabilities A graphic showing a number of potential missions for the railgun.That we are starting to hear more about the railgun again and that the program appears to be making steady progress toward an at-sea test is not necessarily surprising. Fanta said that he believes that an operational railgun is feasible within the next five years. Therefore, this device is not expected to result in any electromagnetic impacts and will not be further analyzed for biological resources in this document.The Navy had previously considered using the expeditionary fast transport This unit will eventually include, among other ships, the three Regardless of what ship serves as the first test platform, an at-sea test would be a major step forward in the program. In January 2018, images China's development of other advanced weapon systems, as well as similar work going on in Russia, has been a major driver of other aggressive development programs across the U.S. military, "We've learned a lot and the engineering of building something like that that can handle that much electromagnetic energy and not just explode is challenging," Richardson said at a gathering at the Atlantic Council think tank "We just need to get the clock sped up with respect to the railgun," he added, having noted that the program had been going on for nearly 15 years. "The system charges for two minutes and fires in less than one second," the 1,800-page assessment It's unclear at this time exactly which vessel will play host to the new weapons system. This appears to be the first official mention of the program, outside of statements to the press, in more than two years. "The installation of the railgun began earlier this year and required a large effort for the mount, gun, power controls, displays, and functional ties into the range," Site Manager John Winstead said At least one live-fire test occurred on May 15, 2019, "Initial estimated test dates were reduced from three to two days due to the success of the firings," an There were no additional details on any other part of the upcoming test schedule at White Sands.