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US Navy Producing Scaled-Down Rail Gun Naval Weapon
Back in March 2006, BAE Systems received a contract for design and production of the 32 MJ Laboratory Launcher for the U.S. Navy. Some hint of what they are talking about can be gleaned from the name. The project is an electro-magnetic rail gun that accelerates a projectile to incredibly high speeds without using explosives. The attraction of such systems is no mystery they promise to fire their ammunition 10 or more times farther than conventional naval gun shells, while sharply reducing both the required size of each shell and the amount of explosive material carried on board ship. Progress is being made, but there are still major technical challenges to overcome before a working rail gun becomes a serious naval option.
Rail Guns: Concept & Technology Developments
An electro-magnetic railgun uses electrical energy to accelerate projectiles to extreme velocities. Railguns do not require powders or explosives to fire the round and therefore free magazine space for other mission areas. In addition, electro-magnetic guns provide a highly consistent and uniform explosive charge that gives much greater accuracy.
The technology involves sending an electric current along parallel rails up and through an iron rod that connects the poles of a magnet, firing its projectile. If all goes well, the projectile flies at speeds above Mach 7 and hits its target still traveling at about Mach 5; gun ranges of up to 500 km/ 300 miles have been discussed for such a system.
Technically, the biggest challenges are two-fold: The barrel, and the capacitors. Super-high speed for the fired object = super-high friction in the barrel. The armature also has a tendency to create transitioning, which is a fancy way of saying it creates very hot gas when you move it in the barrel at those speeds. The gun has to be able to take that heat and pressure without deforming, blowing up, or acquiring ballistic characteristics that will make the next shot inaccurate.
The other big challenge is capacitors. There are reports that officials will be unable to use BAEs delivered gun until late 2008 or early 2009, because the Navy will be late in buying 100 capacitors that are big enough to power 32 MJ of muzzle energy. Their cost, the size of the order, and the limited industrial base for that sort of thing will all create delays. They also create practical limitations on what sorts of ships can mount a rail gun
The DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyers are going to be all-electric ships, using fully integrated power systems that deliver 78 MW to drive propulsion and onboard electronics. That improved generating capacity is one reason they are most frequently envisaged as the ships that might be mounting EM weapons in future. In truth, any platform with sufficient space and power could be configured to mount them, but right now the power requirements and the physical size of capacitors that would be big enough are key limiting issues.
In related news, Janes has also reported that UT-IAT (University of Texas Institute of Advanced Technology) has devised a common low-cost projectile concept for both naval surface-fire support and army non line-of-sight (NLOS) engagements using an EM rail gun launcher. The projectile has a flight mass of 15 kg and contains either multiple kinetic-energy flechettes (darts), or a smaller number of sub-penetrators made of tungsten. In its naval guise it has a muzzle energy of 64 MJ (mega-joules); a muzzle velocity of 2,500 m/s; a maximum range in excess of 500 km and an impact velocity of 1,600 m/s.
Jan 31/08: Another step forward. Center, The Navys Office of Naval Research (ONR) successfully conducted a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic rail gun at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, VA, firing at 10.64MJ (megajoules) with a muzzle velocity of 2,520 meters per second. Lets see: 3,600 seconds per hour, 0.62 miles per kilometer yes, thats over 5,600 miles per hour. The speed of sound is about 760 mph at sea level, so its about Mach 7.4.
Complete artical in link below..............
US Navy Producing Scaled-Down Rail Gun Naval Weapon
Back in March 2006, BAE Systems received a contract for design and production of the 32 MJ Laboratory Launcher for the U.S. Navy. Some hint of what they are talking about can be gleaned from the name. The project is an electro-magnetic rail gun that accelerates a projectile to incredibly high speeds without using explosives. The attraction of such systems is no mystery they promise to fire their ammunition 10 or more times farther than conventional naval gun shells, while sharply reducing both the required size of each shell and the amount of explosive material carried on board ship. Progress is being made, but there are still major technical challenges to overcome before a working rail gun becomes a serious naval option.
Rail Guns: Concept & Technology Developments
An electro-magnetic railgun uses electrical energy to accelerate projectiles to extreme velocities. Railguns do not require powders or explosives to fire the round and therefore free magazine space for other mission areas. In addition, electro-magnetic guns provide a highly consistent and uniform explosive charge that gives much greater accuracy.
The technology involves sending an electric current along parallel rails up and through an iron rod that connects the poles of a magnet, firing its projectile. If all goes well, the projectile flies at speeds above Mach 7 and hits its target still traveling at about Mach 5; gun ranges of up to 500 km/ 300 miles have been discussed for such a system.
Technically, the biggest challenges are two-fold: The barrel, and the capacitors. Super-high speed for the fired object = super-high friction in the barrel. The armature also has a tendency to create transitioning, which is a fancy way of saying it creates very hot gas when you move it in the barrel at those speeds. The gun has to be able to take that heat and pressure without deforming, blowing up, or acquiring ballistic characteristics that will make the next shot inaccurate.
The other big challenge is capacitors. There are reports that officials will be unable to use BAEs delivered gun until late 2008 or early 2009, because the Navy will be late in buying 100 capacitors that are big enough to power 32 MJ of muzzle energy. Their cost, the size of the order, and the limited industrial base for that sort of thing will all create delays. They also create practical limitations on what sorts of ships can mount a rail gun
The DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyers are going to be all-electric ships, using fully integrated power systems that deliver 78 MW to drive propulsion and onboard electronics. That improved generating capacity is one reason they are most frequently envisaged as the ships that might be mounting EM weapons in future. In truth, any platform with sufficient space and power could be configured to mount them, but right now the power requirements and the physical size of capacitors that would be big enough are key limiting issues.
In related news, Janes has also reported that UT-IAT (University of Texas Institute of Advanced Technology) has devised a common low-cost projectile concept for both naval surface-fire support and army non line-of-sight (NLOS) engagements using an EM rail gun launcher. The projectile has a flight mass of 15 kg and contains either multiple kinetic-energy flechettes (darts), or a smaller number of sub-penetrators made of tungsten. In its naval guise it has a muzzle energy of 64 MJ (mega-joules); a muzzle velocity of 2,500 m/s; a maximum range in excess of 500 km and an impact velocity of 1,600 m/s.
Jan 31/08: Another step forward. Center, The Navys Office of Naval Research (ONR) successfully conducted a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic rail gun at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, VA, firing at 10.64MJ (megajoules) with a muzzle velocity of 2,520 meters per second. Lets see: 3,600 seconds per hour, 0.62 miles per kilometer yes, thats over 5,600 miles per hour. The speed of sound is about 760 mph at sea level, so its about Mach 7.4.
Complete artical in link below..............
US Navy Producing Scaled-Down Rail Gun Naval Weapon
