Electromagnetic Railgun - News and Discussion

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I wanted to create a dedicated thread for EMRG development and testing activity the world over. On the USN side more public attention is on the larger, 32 MJ BAE system EMRG that is moving through the developmental cycle but the other program from General Atomics is also moving nicely. Early next year, General Atomics plans to test its 10 MJ Blitzer railgun against a cruise missile surrogate using a company developed round (not the HVP). Some snippets from a recent Jane's article -

GA-EMS to test 10 MJ railgun in early 2018

General Atomics Electro Magnetic Systems (GA-EMS) is assembling a 10 MJ railgun in preparation for shipping to Utah, where the company will begin readying the weapon system for testing in 2018.

In addition, GA-EMS announced in May that it had successfully tested its hypersonic projectile, which has been fitted with an enhanced guidance electronics unit (GEU) containing a new battery configuration. The tests were conducted using GA-EMS' 3 MJ Blitzer railgun system at the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

During the test, GA-EMS demonstrated a continuous two-way datalink that enables target information between the in-flight projectile and a ground station to be updated.

"Everything communicated, it was still operating when it landed 7 km away from our launch point – and it communicated in-flight, which is exactly what we were trying to achieve," GA-EMS president Scott Forney told Jane's .

Besides the GEU tests, the company stated that it had also demonstrated a new lightweight composite sabot, achieving successful sabot separation and maintaining in-bore structural integrity at high acceleration levels.

The projectile that will be launched later this year from the 10 MJ railgun will be twice as long as that fired from the 3 MJ gun, Forney noted.....

"We were able to take each one of our key technologies and put [them] into the bus round, and then launch it in real-life conditions to prove that the electronics can handle a really difficult environment where you have more than 30,000 Gs," he said.

Besides the two-way communications link, the projectile is fitted with a magnetometer. Additionally, it is equipped with GA-EMS' steering system – fin controls on the projectile's control surfaces that are important for the GEU to be able to communicate – according to Forney.

"We have a stationary control surface, and then we have a moving control surface as you would expect, like any missile," he said. "All three of those electronic systems had to be qualified; otherwise we would not be confident putting all three together in the 10 MJ system, which we will test later this year."

Before the projectile was fired from a railgun, GA-EMS tested each of the electronic packages in what Forney called an "air cannon". This enabled GA-EMS to fire the projectile at the G values they were interested in achieving, Forney said.

The payload and electronics fit into a projectile about the size of two mini Coca-Cola cans (each about .22 litre in size), he added, noting that it was challenging to fit the technology into such a small form factor.

"Fitting it in to a [Coca-Cola] can and [it] is going through all these phase stages in this high [electromagnetic] field, that was the big challenge," Forney said.

The design requirement for the projectile speed is Mach 6; however, the testing being undertaken by GA-EMS with the 3 MJ gun uses a slightly lower speed, as the projectile was developed as an aerodynamic round, rather than a heavy round with integral electronics and steering control systems, Forney noted.....

In early 2018, GA-EMS expects to have demonstrated the ability to use a multi-mission medium-range gun – what the company terms a 10 MJ launcher – and will have shown command guidance of the projectile to a moving target.

GA-Aeronautical Systems is developing a target that will look like a cruise missile, which will be used for the command guidance demonstration.

The company continues to work on reducing the railgun's pulse power system. Forney said that when the company completes its fifth-generation pulse power system, it will have one-eighth of the footprint of the current system being used at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, Virginia, at which the USN's Office of Naval Research is conducting railgun work.

http://www.janes.com/images/assets/302/72302/1651304_-_main.jpg

BAE systems too is going to install a second 32 MJ EMRG for land testing at White Sands Missile Range for long range fires testing.

Navy Railgun Ramps Up in Test Shots

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Member for

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Posts: 12,109

Electromagnetic railgun will demo 10 rounds per minute

By the end of 2018, the Navy will test an electromagnetic railgun that can shoot 10 rounds per minute, according to a service official.

Within the year, Thomas Beutner, Naval Air Warfare and Weapons department head at the Office of Naval Research, told reporters July 20, a 32 megajoules electromagnetic railgun will be demonstrated at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dalhgren, VA, using a new composite launcher firing at 10 rounds per minute.

The service will also conduct the first-ever hypervelocity projectile flight demonstration in 2019, Beutner said.

In fiscal year 2019, the Navy will test the electromagnetic railgun with a series of different barrels to determine the best one for the fleet, Thomas Boucher, Naval Air Warfare and Weapons department program officer, said during the same presentation.

ONR will conclude its electromagnetic railgun program at the end of FY-19. Naval Sea Systems Command's program executive office for integrated weapons systems has a directed-energy program office that will then take the reins and determine the path ahead for the system.

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General Atomics Railgun System Heading for Testing

An advanced railgun cannon prototype developed by General Atomics for the Navy is preparing for testing, according to the company.

The 10-megajoule medium-range multi-mission railgun system, one of two prototypes in development for the service, has completed final assembly and factory acceptance test, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems recently announced.

The system was designed to provide multi-domain capability on a smaller footprint for ship, land and mobile devices. It will be delivered to Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, according to a company press release.

Scott Forney, president of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, previously told National Defense that the company intends to hit a stationary target by the fourth quarter of this year. By early 2018, it expects to hit a surrogate cruise missile currently in development by General Atomics, he added. Testing is expected to last about nine months.

The company's third generation railgun launcher is "a leap forward in advancing railgun technologies," said Nick Bucci, vice president for missile defense and space systems at General Atomics. It offers reduced size and weight for the launcher, twice the energy density in a reduced footprint and more capable hypersonic projectiles, he added.

The system integrates the high energy pulsed power container, 10-magejoule launcher, hypersonic hybrid missile and fire control technologies, which together provide additional testing capabilities, according to the company.

Successful projectile component testing was completed in early 2017, and demonstrated a continuous two-way data link between the in-flight projectiles and the ground station over an open range, which supports the fire control solution, the release said.

General Atomics and BAE Systems are each contracted by the Navy to create a prototype railgun system, designed to file projectiles at energy levels of 20 to 32 megajoules, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

The Office of Naval Research has been working for over a decade to develop the railgun, an electromagnetic weapon capable of launching projectiles at speeds exceeding that of conventional gun technology.

It could reduce explosive loads aboard ship and allow the Navy to engage more targets, and would be more cost-efficient as opposed to conventional gun or missile systems. Once fielded, it could be used for naval surface fire support or anti-surface warfare.