Game-Changing Weaponry?

The Navy has test-fired a novel weapon:

A theoretical dream for decades, the railgun is unlike any other weapon used in warfare. And it’s quite real too, as the U.S. Navy has proven in a record-setting test today in Dahlgren, VA.

Rather than relying on a explosion to fire a projectile, the technology uses an electomagnetic current to accelerate a non-explosive bullet at several times the speed of sound. The conductive projectile zips along a set of electrically charged parallel rails and out of the barrel at speeds up to Mach 7.

The result: a weapon that can hit a target 100 miles or more away within minutes.

It’s estimated that about 2/3s of the world’s population lives within 100 miles of the coast.

A railgun uses bullets rather than explosive charges—it’s a kinetic weapon rather than an explosive one. Its bullets should be significantly cheaper, easier to store, and less dangerous to the crews of the vessels that use the weapon than explosive charges. At the sorts of energies and speeds being discussed it would be enormously destructive, doing damage radially.

Presumably, the weapon is intended for Zumwalt-class destroyers. The Navy confirms this:

In terms of capability, a future tactical Electromagnetic Railgun will hit targets at ranges almost 20 times farther than conventional surface ship combat systems. A 32-megajoule shot, for example, could reach ranges of more than 100 nautical miles with Mach 5 velocity, said Dr. Elizabeth D’Andrea, ONR Electromagnetic Railgun program strategic director.

Additionally, the two industry competitors, BAE Systems and General Atomics, will showcase their advanced composite prototype Railgun launcher systems at NSWCDD, a tenant command to Naval Support Facility.

The goal of the Electromagnetic Railgun program is to develop a new surface ship weapon that will use a projectile driven by kinetic energy. This new munition will eliminate the need for a high-energy explosive warhead and traditional gun propellants, ONR officials said. Removing explosives and chemicals will improve safety for Sailors and Marines and reduce the munitions logistics chain.

The Railgun is being developed for use on a wide range of ships, whether the vessel has an integrated power system, such as DDG 1000, or a non-integrated power system, such as a DDG 51, ONR officials said.

The system would be capable of a rate of fire of six to 12 rounds per minute and guided to targets with a high degree of precision. Improved accuracy should result in minimizing collateral damage, ONR officials added.

The technology is still in its infancy—it will be a long time before there are actual deployed weapons. Among the problems that need to be solved are preventing the weapon from destroying itself: the energies involved are such that the bullet can melt the rails on which it travels.