Thursday, February 7, 2008

U.S. Navy Tested World’s Most Powerful Electromagnetic Railgun.

Photograph taken from a high-speed video camera during a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Va., on January 31, 2008, firing at 10.64MJ (megajoules) with a muzzle velocity of 2520 meters per second. The Office of Naval Research's EMRG program is part of the Department of the Navy's Science and Technology investments, focused on developing new technologies to support Navy and Marine Corps war fighting needs. This photograph is a frame taken from a high-speed video camera. U.S. Navy Photograph (Released) The Navy’s Office of Naval Research successfully conducted a record-setting firing of an electromagnetic railgun at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, VA. An invited audience, including the Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Gary Roughead, witnessed this revolutionary technology in action.

080131-N-0000X-001 Railguns provide a capability for sustained, offensive power projection, complementary to missiles and tactical aircraft. They may be a cost-effective solution to the Marine Corp Naval Surface Fire Support requirements because of their unique capability to simultaneously satisfy three key war-fighting objectives:

  1. Extremely long ranges
  2. Short time-of-flight
  3. High lethality (energy-on-target)

Credit: US Navy

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