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http://www.navytimes.com/issues/stories/0-NAVYPAPER-2988177.php
Navy wants electromagnetic railgun on deck of next-generation cruiser
By Zachary M. Peterson - zpeterson@militarytimes.com
Posted : September 03, 2007
The Office of Naval Research continues to press ahead on a ship-based electromagnetic railgun designed to shoot at a range of 250 miles in six minutes.
The gun is fired with electricity rather than gunpowder. A projectile is launched at Mach 7 through the electromagnetic rails into the atmosphere for about one minute, flies out of the atmosphere for four minutes, then descends to Earth toward its target at the speed of Mach 5 in approximately one minute. The projectile is guided using the Global Positioning System.
The goal is to provide over-the-horizon fire support from sea to land, or what Marines call “fast steel on target,” said Elizabeth D’Andrea, the EM railgun program manager at ONR, in a presentation at an industry conference in August.
The program is still in development, but the Navy wants to use the advanced technology on its next-generation cruiser, the CG(X).
The first shipboard EM railgun would reach its initial operating capability between 2020 and 2025, D’Andrea said.
ONR plans to perform a feasibility demonstration in fiscal 2011. Sometime this month, the program will receive a new laboratory launcher at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Va., where railgun testing is being conducted.
“We’re ramping up as we test, culminating in the [feasibility demonstration] in FY 11,” Roger Ellis, the EM railgun deputy program manager for ONR, told Navy Times.
As the gun is tested, the amount of energy the gun uses is being increased, Ellis said. Right now, the launcher is capable of around 8 megajoules. The new launcher will allow the program to test up to the eventual goal of 32 megajoules, Ellis noted.
The program wants to demonstrate more than 100 shots by fiscal 2011. The objective is to fire 3,000 rounds per gun barrel. The barrels should be changeable onboard ship, D’Andrea said.
Currently, railgun developers are working to increase the bore life to insure the barrel can tolerate the high amount of electrical current, Ellis said.
Officials say an EM railgun onboard a ship could increase ship design options because the gun weighs less and requires less infrastructure than traditional guns that use gunpowder and magazines.
Traditional fire-protection and ammunition-handling requirements are not necessary using an electromagnetic-pulse power system, Ellis said.
The end result could be a more cost-effective and highly lethal weapon, D’Andrea said, adding that the railgun program strives to provide “missile ranges at bullet prices.”
The Army is working on a land-based EM railgun, and the two programs are working together when applicable, D’Andrea said.
Various companies are working on different components of the Navy’s EM railgun. For example, BAE and General Atomics are developing launchers, while Boeing and the Draper Laboratory are working on developing projectiles, D’Andrea said.
The program plans to test-fire the new launcher at NSWC Dahlgren in November, she said. After this test, the program will become highly classified.
We’re locking the program down after November,” she said.
Navy wants electromagnetic railgun on deck of next-generation cruiser
By Zachary M. Peterson - zpeterson@militarytimes.com
Posted : September 03, 2007
The Office of Naval Research continues to press ahead on a ship-based electromagnetic railgun designed to shoot at a range of 250 miles in six minutes.
The gun is fired with electricity rather than gunpowder. A projectile is launched at Mach 7 through the electromagnetic rails into the atmosphere for about one minute, flies out of the atmosphere for four minutes, then descends to Earth toward its target at the speed of Mach 5 in approximately one minute. The projectile is guided using the Global Positioning System.
The goal is to provide over-the-horizon fire support from sea to land, or what Marines call “fast steel on target,” said Elizabeth D’Andrea, the EM railgun program manager at ONR, in a presentation at an industry conference in August.
The program is still in development, but the Navy wants to use the advanced technology on its next-generation cruiser, the CG(X).
The first shipboard EM railgun would reach its initial operating capability between 2020 and 2025, D’Andrea said.
ONR plans to perform a feasibility demonstration in fiscal 2011. Sometime this month, the program will receive a new laboratory launcher at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Va., where railgun testing is being conducted.
“We’re ramping up as we test, culminating in the [feasibility demonstration] in FY 11,” Roger Ellis, the EM railgun deputy program manager for ONR, told Navy Times.
As the gun is tested, the amount of energy the gun uses is being increased, Ellis said. Right now, the launcher is capable of around 8 megajoules. The new launcher will allow the program to test up to the eventual goal of 32 megajoules, Ellis noted.
The program wants to demonstrate more than 100 shots by fiscal 2011. The objective is to fire 3,000 rounds per gun barrel. The barrels should be changeable onboard ship, D’Andrea said.
Currently, railgun developers are working to increase the bore life to insure the barrel can tolerate the high amount of electrical current, Ellis said.
Officials say an EM railgun onboard a ship could increase ship design options because the gun weighs less and requires less infrastructure than traditional guns that use gunpowder and magazines.
Traditional fire-protection and ammunition-handling requirements are not necessary using an electromagnetic-pulse power system, Ellis said.
The end result could be a more cost-effective and highly lethal weapon, D’Andrea said, adding that the railgun program strives to provide “missile ranges at bullet prices.”
The Army is working on a land-based EM railgun, and the two programs are working together when applicable, D’Andrea said.
Various companies are working on different components of the Navy’s EM railgun. For example, BAE and General Atomics are developing launchers, while Boeing and the Draper Laboratory are working on developing projectiles, D’Andrea said.
The program plans to test-fire the new launcher at NSWC Dahlgren in November, she said. After this test, the program will become highly classified.
We’re locking the program down after November,” she said.
