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The Navy's Horrifyingly Powerful Electromagnetic Railgun Might Be Coming to an End: Report
Jennings Brown
Monday 6:07pm
2275
Photo: Getty
For years, we’ve been sharing videos and images showing the destructive power of the United State Navy’s electromagnetic railgun. But we might soon be seeing the last of those horrifying GIFs.
Instead of using chemical combustion, the railgun fires projectiles using magnetic fields generated by enormous amount of energy. The superweapon is capable of shooting projectiles at 4,5000 miles per hour and hitting targets 100 miles away. According to military veteran news outlet Task & Purpose, the railgun, which has cost the Pentagon about $500 million since its inception in 2005, could be entering its twilight.
The recently declassified Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), which is tasked with helping usher new defense tech from testing facilities to combat, has reportedly shown less interest in the railgun than in other weapons under development. The waning enthusiasm might prevent the railgun from undergoing necessary tests that would allow the gun to be used in battle.
As the Navy has been developing the electromagnetic railgun, it has also been investing in hypervelocity projectile (HVP), a low-drag guided spike that the railgun could use for ammo. And now it seems the SCO has more interest in that ammo than the railgun it was originally built for.
HVP can also be fired using available powder weapons, and the Department of Defense might be interested in getting those projectiles combat-ready before the railgun makes it through years of testing. “SCO shifted the project’s focus to conventional powder guns, facilitating a faster transition of HVP technology to the warfighter,” Chris Sherwood, an SCO spokesperson, told Task & Purpose. “Our priority continues to be the HVP, which is reflected in the program’s budget.”
According to Task & Purpose’s report, some researchers think the SCO’s prioritization of HVP means the railgun wont go through the necessary testing that would lead to its permanent installation on ships. One senior policymaker told Task & Purpose,“People at SCO don’t want to fund the railgun because they’re simply not buying it... They are imparting that priority on to Big Navy, which is pulling the money away from ONR [Office of Naval Research].”
But the ONR remains optimistic about the railgun—at least publicly. ONR spokesperson David Smalley told Task & Purpose that his organization plans to continue developing the railgun and has been making “great technical progress and there have been no show stoppers to date to prevent the Navy from having a railgun in the future.”
[Task & Purpose]
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https://www.rt.com/usa/412055-railgun-navy-hvp-funds/
Navy to scrap $500mn next-generation railgun
Published time: 6 Dec, 2017 02:48
Get short URL
© usnavyresearch / YouTube
The US Navy is turning its attention away from a decade-long, electromagnetic railgun program, opting instead, for a less expensive alternative that uses the projectiles as ammunition in existing guns, rather than a next-generation weapon.
Last week, the Congressional Research Service released a report, which said the Pentagon is looking to divert from a decade-long electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) program, but are planning to use the projectiles developed in the program, which are compatible with its current powder artillery gun systems.
Instead of relying on traditional explosive propellants like gunpowder, EMRG uses electrical currents to fire a projectile at speeds of up to 5,600 mph, or more than seven times the speed of sound.
The Navy has been developing the EMRG since 2005 in conjunction with defense contractors General Atomics and BAE Systems. Testing the weapon has cost an estimated $500 million, according to Popular Mechanics.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR), which is focused on developing new technologies for the service, broke the world record for muzzle energy with an EMRG prototype in 2010. Researchers fired a 23-pound projectile at 32 megajoules, enough to propel a projectile up to 100 nautical miles away.
In July, the Navy released a video, showing they were able to fire 4.8 shells a minute. In 2013, the Naval Sea Systems Command called for the ONR to develop a railgun that could fire 10 shells a minute and store up to 650 shells.
In 2015, the Navy estimated that EMRG weapons could be installed on a Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyer by the mid- 2020s.
However, the report states that there are “a number of significant development challenges” with the weapon which would require “years of additional development work,” adding, that “ultimate success in overcoming them is not guaranteed.”
Apart from the costs, the electromagnetic fields necessary to operate the weapons require a significant amount of energy, much more than most Navy vessels can currently generate.
Instead, the Department of Defense (DoD) has “particular interest” in a hypervelocity projectile (HVP) program, according to the report. The US Navy began the HVP program after they realized the low-cost guided projectiles designed for the EMRG could also be fired from their existing powder guns.
The projectiles are compatible with guns currently installed on cruisers, which provides the Navy with a “potential for rapidly proliferating HVP through the cruiser-destroyer force.” The Pentagon is also interested in the projectiles because they have the potential to be utilized “across multiple US military services.”
When fired from 5-inch powder guns, HVP projectiles can achieve a speed of Mach 3, half the speed of the EMRG, but twice the speed of conventional rounds fired from 5-inch guns.
The guided projectiles can also be used to intercept anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs).
Read more
US Navy test fires futuristic railgun (VIDEO)
“They hit with the impact of a train slamming into a wall at 100 miles per hour,” the report states, citing a piece from the Washington Post. “The high-speed, hence high-energy projectiles, which cost just $25,000, can radically improve fleet-protection capabilities: A barrage of them could counter an enemy’s more expensive anti-ship missiles.”
The Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), an arm of the Pentagon created to develop new technologies, has reportedly been reallocating funds from the EMRG to the HVP program, which has the potential to leave the “supergun” project “dead in the water” by 2019, a defense contractor told Task and Purpose.
SCO spokesman Chris Sherwood said his division has not abandoned the EMRG program, but are focusing on “developing the [HVP] for use in existing powder gun systems to give the Navy and Army near-term, cost-effective long-range fires and missile defense solutions.”
“SCO shifted the project’s focus to conventional powder guns, facilitating a faster transition of HVP technology to the warfighter,” Sherwood told Task and Purpose. “Our priority continues to be the HVP, which is reflected in the program’s budget.”
Task & Purpose conducted an analysis of the Navy’s 2018 RDT&E funding request and found that funds for the Power Projection Applied Research fell more than $75 million due to cuts from railgun barrel testing.
“Money is being put into HVP, and not railgun projects, which is why the two are being split,” a senior legislative official told Task and Purpose. “We’ve been able to rescue some of this funding, but Big Navy sees different opportunities, and because [the railgun] is a major challenge, they don’t want to explore it.”
https://gizmodo.com/rss
The Navy's Horrifyingly Powerful Electromagnetic Railgun Might Be Coming to an End: Report
Jennings Brown
Monday 6:07pm
2275
Photo: Getty
For years, we’ve been sharing videos and images showing the destructive power of the United State Navy’s electromagnetic railgun. But we might soon be seeing the last of those horrifying GIFs.
Instead of using chemical combustion, the railgun fires projectiles using magnetic fields generated by enormous amount of energy. The superweapon is capable of shooting projectiles at 4,5000 miles per hour and hitting targets 100 miles away. According to military veteran news outlet Task & Purpose, the railgun, which has cost the Pentagon about $500 million since its inception in 2005, could be entering its twilight.
The recently declassified Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), which is tasked with helping usher new defense tech from testing facilities to combat, has reportedly shown less interest in the railgun than in other weapons under development. The waning enthusiasm might prevent the railgun from undergoing necessary tests that would allow the gun to be used in battle.
As the Navy has been developing the electromagnetic railgun, it has also been investing in hypervelocity projectile (HVP), a low-drag guided spike that the railgun could use for ammo. And now it seems the SCO has more interest in that ammo than the railgun it was originally built for.
HVP can also be fired using available powder weapons, and the Department of Defense might be interested in getting those projectiles combat-ready before the railgun makes it through years of testing. “SCO shifted the project’s focus to conventional powder guns, facilitating a faster transition of HVP technology to the warfighter,” Chris Sherwood, an SCO spokesperson, told Task & Purpose. “Our priority continues to be the HVP, which is reflected in the program’s budget.”
According to Task & Purpose’s report, some researchers think the SCO’s prioritization of HVP means the railgun wont go through the necessary testing that would lead to its permanent installation on ships. One senior policymaker told Task & Purpose,“People at SCO don’t want to fund the railgun because they’re simply not buying it... They are imparting that priority on to Big Navy, which is pulling the money away from ONR [Office of Naval Research].”
But the ONR remains optimistic about the railgun—at least publicly. ONR spokesperson David Smalley told Task & Purpose that his organization plans to continue developing the railgun and has been making “great technical progress and there have been no show stoppers to date to prevent the Navy from having a railgun in the future.”
[Task & Purpose]
Recommended Stories
Watch The Navy's Hyper Velocity Projectile Rip Through These Plates
https://gizmodo.com/rss
https://www.rt.com/usa/412055-railgun-navy-hvp-funds/
Navy to scrap $500mn next-generation railgun
Published time: 6 Dec, 2017 02:48
Get short URL
© usnavyresearch / YouTube
The US Navy is turning its attention away from a decade-long, electromagnetic railgun program, opting instead, for a less expensive alternative that uses the projectiles as ammunition in existing guns, rather than a next-generation weapon.
Last week, the Congressional Research Service released a report, which said the Pentagon is looking to divert from a decade-long electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) program, but are planning to use the projectiles developed in the program, which are compatible with its current powder artillery gun systems.
Instead of relying on traditional explosive propellants like gunpowder, EMRG uses electrical currents to fire a projectile at speeds of up to 5,600 mph, or more than seven times the speed of sound.
The Navy has been developing the EMRG since 2005 in conjunction with defense contractors General Atomics and BAE Systems. Testing the weapon has cost an estimated $500 million, according to Popular Mechanics.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR), which is focused on developing new technologies for the service, broke the world record for muzzle energy with an EMRG prototype in 2010. Researchers fired a 23-pound projectile at 32 megajoules, enough to propel a projectile up to 100 nautical miles away.
In July, the Navy released a video, showing they were able to fire 4.8 shells a minute. In 2013, the Naval Sea Systems Command called for the ONR to develop a railgun that could fire 10 shells a minute and store up to 650 shells.
In 2015, the Navy estimated that EMRG weapons could be installed on a Zumwalt (DDG-1000) class destroyer by the mid- 2020s.
However, the report states that there are “a number of significant development challenges” with the weapon which would require “years of additional development work,” adding, that “ultimate success in overcoming them is not guaranteed.”
Apart from the costs, the electromagnetic fields necessary to operate the weapons require a significant amount of energy, much more than most Navy vessels can currently generate.
Instead, the Department of Defense (DoD) has “particular interest” in a hypervelocity projectile (HVP) program, according to the report. The US Navy began the HVP program after they realized the low-cost guided projectiles designed for the EMRG could also be fired from their existing powder guns.
The projectiles are compatible with guns currently installed on cruisers, which provides the Navy with a “potential for rapidly proliferating HVP through the cruiser-destroyer force.” The Pentagon is also interested in the projectiles because they have the potential to be utilized “across multiple US military services.”
When fired from 5-inch powder guns, HVP projectiles can achieve a speed of Mach 3, half the speed of the EMRG, but twice the speed of conventional rounds fired from 5-inch guns.
The guided projectiles can also be used to intercept anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs).
Read more
US Navy test fires futuristic railgun (VIDEO) “They hit with the impact of a train slamming into a wall at 100 miles per hour,” the report states, citing a piece from the Washington Post. “The high-speed, hence high-energy projectiles, which cost just $25,000, can radically improve fleet-protection capabilities: A barrage of them could counter an enemy’s more expensive anti-ship missiles.”
The Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), an arm of the Pentagon created to develop new technologies, has reportedly been reallocating funds from the EMRG to the HVP program, which has the potential to leave the “supergun” project “dead in the water” by 2019, a defense contractor told Task and Purpose.
SCO spokesman Chris Sherwood said his division has not abandoned the EMRG program, but are focusing on “developing the [HVP] for use in existing powder gun systems to give the Navy and Army near-term, cost-effective long-range fires and missile defense solutions.”
“SCO shifted the project’s focus to conventional powder guns, facilitating a faster transition of HVP technology to the warfighter,” Sherwood told Task and Purpose. “Our priority continues to be the HVP, which is reflected in the program’s budget.”
Task & Purpose conducted an analysis of the Navy’s 2018 RDT&E funding request and found that funds for the Power Projection Applied Research fell more than $75 million due to cuts from railgun barrel testing.
“Money is being put into HVP, and not railgun projects, which is why the two are being split,” a senior legislative official told Task and Purpose. “We’ve been able to rescue some of this funding, but Big Navy sees different opportunities, and because [the railgun] is a major challenge, they don’t want to explore it.”
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