Electro Magnetic Rail Gun

[natarajan]

Is this the project developed by usa alone and if so then is it possible for us to get this lethal weapons as p8i (we are first foreign customer)

 

[LETHALFORCE]

nat I don't think it is for sale yet, it still has to be inducted by US navy which maybe atleast another 10 years, since this is a game changing type of weapon USA will proably not even consider selling this for a long time to come.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

EETimes.com - Navy demos railgun to fire projectiles 250 miles

Navy demos railgun to fire projectiles 250 miles

R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
(02/04/2008 1:48 PM EST)

PORTLAND, Ore. — An electromagnetic catapult, or railgun, is on track for deployment on U.S. warships around 2012, according to the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

A railgun, which uses electricity to magnetically accelerate munitions down a track, shoots metal projectiles that hit targets at supersonic speed. They can also cause more damage than a high-explosive without collateral destruction. With GPS-enabled targeting accuracy of 15 feet, when shot from warships up to 275 miles away, the non-explosive railgun projectiles could also protect Navy personnel without requiring dangerous explosives onboard.

In the Navy's latest test made history with the world's fastest muzzle velocity of 5,637 miles per hour--generating a record 10.6 megajoules of energy (1 joule = 1 watt-second). The test was performed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (Dahlgren Va.).

In 2009, ONR will decide whether to award contracts for deployment to BAE Systems PLC (Farnborough, U.K.) or General Atomics Technologies Inc. (San Diego) for the railgun. Boeing Co. (Chicago) and Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (Cambridge, Mass.) are vying for the projectile contract.

If the Navy decides to deploy the railgun, it plans to have a final design in place for approval by 2012. Initial prototypes will probably shoot a single projectile, but plans for rapid-fire versions are already on the drawing board.

The final design specification calls for a muzzle velocity of 5,760 mph for a weapon that is capable of launching a projectile in a parabolic ballistic path 94 miles high. It must strike targets within six minutes at 3,840 mph.

Initial tests showed that targets can be obliterated by the kinetic force of the impact with pinpoint accuracy without shrapnel, which is the most common cause of collateral damage when using high-explosive munitions.

 

[gokulakannan]

railgun

 

[gokulakannan]

Here is the original

 

[gokulakannan]

Where will you get the power from?

^^^ Look from the above picture the power is getting externally(battery of generator)

 

[bengalraider]

all this talk about rail guns brings about an interesting possibility, could rail guns herald the return to the era of battleships, albeit give rise to an era where the supremacy of aircraft carriers at sea is challenged by nuclear powered battleships carrying 6 or 9 big guns each.these babies could devastate CBG's all on their own .mmm! bring back the yamato's the bismarcks and the iowa's i say!

i have attached one picture of such an interesting concept.

 

[bengalraider]

U.S Military forges ahead with railgun program

General Atomics’ Blitzer™ Electromagnetic Railgun Completes Successful First Firing

San Diego, Calif., October 22, 2009. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems division (GA-EMS) has successfully fired multiple rounds for the first time in a prototype of its new Blitzer™ electromagnetic railgun air defense prototype system. These tests were performed at the US Army Dugway Proving Grounds under a contract with the Office of Naval Research. Testing is scheduled to continue through spring of 2010 and will culminate with the launch of tactically relevant aerodynamic rounds.

Blitzer will provide transformational, leap-ahead air defense capability against a number of threats for both naval and land-based applications. With a muzzle velocity of more than twice that of conventional systems, Blitzer provides significant increases in standoff and lethality at lower cost without the need for propellant or high explosives.

“These tests are an important first step toward demonstrating the viability of a revolutionary technology that will significantly improve the safety and protection of our warfighters at sea and on land,” says GA-EMS Division Vice President R. Scott Forney III. “GA’s internal investment in prototype development of both the energy pulse power system and Blitzer™ electromagnetic railgun continues to demonstrate our commitment to complement our customer’s efforts with transformational electric platform technologies. Confirmation of the electromagnetic design increases confidence in related launcher and all-electric technologies.”

General Atomics is a San Diego-based innovation firm with a 50-year history of successful solutions for environmental, energy, and defense challenges. Affiliated manufacturing and commercial service companies include General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., which produces the Predator® family of unmanned aircraft systems.

For further information, contact:

Tom Hurn
Director, Advanced Weapon Launcher Programs
Electromagnetic System Division
(858) 676-7233
[email protected]

Joel Patton
Director, Advanced Programs and Strategic Development
Electromagnetic Systems Division
(703) 682-6838
[email protected]

Doug Fouquet
Public Relations
(858) 455-2173
[email protected]

For high resolution photo, contact:
Nancy Hitchcox
Marketing Communications Manager
Advanced Technologies Group
(858) 455-3951
[email protected]

 

[bengalraider]

The Bae gun

World's Most Powerful Rail Gun Delivered to Navy
Popular Mechanics | Erik Sofge | January 25, 2008
For true sci-fi fans, any mention of a real-world rail gun will draw an instant, slightly audible gasp. Instead of relying on chemical propellants -- such as gunpowder -- a rail gun uses magnetic "rails" to launch a solid, nonexplosive projectile at incredible speed. Theoretically, rail guns would be able to precisely strike targets at extreme ranges, and would negate the risks associated with carrying around tons of explosive ammo. More to the point, they're cool-sounding, just like lasers.
Which is why the news that BAE Systems has delivered a functional, 32-megajoule Electro-Magnetic Laboratory Rail Gun (32-MJ LRG) to the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., is exciting. Installation of the laboratory launcher is currently under way, and according to BAE, this is the first step toward the Navy's goal of developing a tactical 64-megajoule ship-mounted weapon.

The lab version doesn't look particularly menacing -- more like a long, belt-fed airport screening device than like a futuristic cannon -- but the system will fire rounds at up to Mach 8, drawing on tremendous amounts of electricity to generate the current for each test shot. That, of course, is the problem with rail guns: Like lasers, they're out of step with modern-day generators and capacitors. Eight and 9-megajoule rail guns have been fired before, but providing 3 million amps of power per shot has been a limitation. At 32 megajoules, this new system appears to be the most powerful rail gun ever built, and the Office of Naval Research is installing additional capacitors at the Dahlgren facility to support it. The planned 64-megajoule weapon, if it's ever built, could require even more power -- a staggering 6 million amps.

According to Dr. Amir Chaboki, the program manager for Electro-Magnetic Rail Guns at BAE Systems, "The power is available. The challenge is how you use it." The Navy’s electrically propelled DDG 100 Destroyer, Chaboki says, is a prime candidate for the final 64-megajoule system. Around 72 megawatts (MW) of the vessel's power can be used for propulsion. But during combat, the destroyer's speed could be brought down, freeing up energy for a rail gun. Chaboki calculates that firing the 64-megajoule weapon six times per minute would require 16 MW of power, which would be supplied by either onboard capacitors or pulsed alternators. The more daunting challenge is the force of the rail gun itself: A few shots can dislodge the conducting rails -- or even damage the barrel of the gun.

While the 32-MJ LRG should start firing soon, it could take another 13 years for a 64-megajoule system to be built and deployed on a ship. The Marines, in particular, are interested in the potential for rail guns to deliver supporting fire from up to 220 miles away -- around 10 times further than standard ship-mounted cannons -- with rounds landing more quickly and with less advance warning than a volley of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Effective rail guns will require a major breakthrough in materials between now and 2020, to keep the guns themselves from being shredded by each high-velocity barrage. Which means that for now, rail guns are precisely like lasers in one crucial way: They're Holy Grails, irresistible precisely because they're out of reach.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/02/railguns-for-space-launch.html

Railguns for space launch

The source of this post is this 10 page IEEE paper, Launch to Space With an Electromagnetic Railgun by
Ian R. McNab, Senior Member, IEEE The cost of electricity for a launch will be negligible, as shown below. Barrel life is central to the successful economics for this system. A system might cost $1.3 billion and launch for $500/kg. Recent tests fired 7 pound projectiles at 5637 mph. Lunar escape velocity is 5,324 mph. So the truck sized system is already good enough to launch from the surface of the moon. Classic science fiction "the Moon is Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein could become reality.

Other gun launch systems were reviewed and found lacking:
Only Electromagnetic railguns seem worthy of further study for this application.

This choice was made on the basis that:
"¢ they have already achieved 7 km/s at small scale, and 10.6 MJ at 2–3 km/s (with a test system able to go to 32 MJ) ;
"¢ significant development is being funded for military applications;
"¢ they offer the possibility of achieving the muzzle velocities and energies required;
"¢ the potential cost savings seem significant based on our estimates.

Methods of accelerating large masses in large bore railguns will need to be developed, and some concepts are suggested here.


The muzzle velocity in the range needed for a moon-based launch system have already been achieved in the recent test firings. (about 2.5 km/s). Then it would just be a matter of scaling up energy linearly for heavier masses. (E=MC**2). The 10.6MJ system shot a 7 pound shot. The current 32MJ could fire 21 pounds (10kg) at the desired speed. A 320MJ system could fire 100kg payloads. Using resources available on the moon, this could serve as the forward base for sending material to Mars in support of a manned mission or to supply orbital infrastructure around the earth.

The extension of this technology to the muzzle velocities ( 7500m/s) and energies ( 10 GJ) needed for the direct launch of payloads into orbit is very challenging, but may not be impossible. For launch to orbit, even long launchers ( 1000 m) would need to operate at accelerations 1000 gees to reach the required velocities, so that it would only be possible to launch rugged payloads, such as fuel, water, and material. Estimated launch costs could be attractively low ( $600/kg) compared with the Space Shuttle ( $20 000/kg), provided that acceptable launch rates can be achieved.

So triple the muzzle speed and increase power by 1000 times the current test level or 330 times the current 32 MJ system.

A disadvantage of gun launch is that the launch package has toleave the gun barrel at a very high velocity ( 7500 m/s) through the Earth's atmosphere, leading to a very high aerothermal load on the projectile.

However, the current 32 MJ system is only about the size of a truck. So a nice big scramjet that could fly at Mach 10-12 could use a moderately scaled up version of the rail gun current system to fly above most of the atmosphere and then fire hardened payloads into orbit. Then less heat shielding would be needed.

To provide 500 tons/year to orbit would require 2000 launches/year—a little over five per day on average.

 

[pmaitra]

Rail Gun

Rail Gun

Rail Gun Basics

A rail gun is basically a large electric circuit, made up of three parts: a power source, a pair of parallel rails and a moving armature. Let's look at each of these parts in more detail. Read more: HowStuffWorks "How Rail Guns Work"


Other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54aLcC3G74

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.geekologie.com/2011/04/new-aerodynamic-rail-gun-proje.php

New Aerodynamic Rail Gun Projectile Blows Through Steel Plate, Continues For 4-Miles

Seen here looking suspiciously like my favorite buttplug *checking sock drawer* whew, a General Atomics employee showcases the latest aerodynamic projectile to be shot by their 'Blitzer' railgun. And speaking of Blitzers -- get me one with the ground up Heath bar and Oreos on your way over. "Dammit GW -- Blitzer, NOT Blizzard". SONOFA! Well at least pick up some fro-yo.
GA's got a new, super aerodynamic dart for it that can travel four miles downrange after being fired at zero elevation and blowing through a 1/8" steel plate.


In previous tests, the railgun had been using rounds shaped kinda like bricks. And ultimately, the rounds behaved like bricks too, tumbling out of control at Mach 6. The new round from Boeing is streamlined and mean looking, and if it can make it seven kilometers when fired at zero elevation, it's easy to imagine a 150 mile range in operation.
Shooting projectiles shaped like bricks -- WTF?! That sounds like the worst idea ever. Unless you're trying to build a house from like five miles away, in which case it doesn't sound like the worst idea, it just sounds like you hired the world's laziest contractor. What the...THERE'S A FIREPLACE WHERE THE DOOR'S SUPPOSED TO BE!
Hit the jump for a video demonstration of the 1-mile per second projectile

​

 

[debasree]

is it in practice or in planning

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Navy's Electric Gun Could Hit Targets More Than 100 Miles Away

The Navy has begun firing a weapon that uses electricity instead of gunpowder to launch projectiles faster and farther than ever before.

The electromagnetic railgun now being tested comes from BAE Systems. Another prototype from General Atomics will be delivered later this month, officials said.

BAE's demonstrator is a 32-megajoule gun. Each megajoule is equal to the kinetic energy of a 1-ton car moving at 100 mph.

Testers have fired BAE's gun six times using a brick-like projectile. Future projectiles will be long, slender and aerodynamic. They will contain electronics that will allow them to withstand the temperature and force that goes along with being blasted out of a railgun, officials said.

Magnetic fields created by high electric currents drive a sliding metal conductor between two rails to send projectiles soaring through the air at up to 5,600 mph. A 40-pound projectile fired from the weapon would be able to travel 100 nautical miles in five seconds.

A fully developed electromagnetic railgun will allow sailors to support Marines landing on shore with precise, long-range fire support; defend ships against cruise and ballistic missiles; and target enemy boats and warships, said Roger Ellis, a program manager at the Office of Naval Research. The Navy's goal is to develop a 20- to 32-megajoule weapon that can shoot up to 100 nautical miles. The standard five-inch gun currently being used on ships has a range of 13 nautical miles.

 

[Payeng]

Electromagnetic Railgun Prototype

Engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, prepare to test the Office of Naval Research-funded electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher that was recently installed at a test facility in Dahlgren, Va. The test shots began a monthlong series of full-energy tests to evaluate the first of two industry-built launchers and help bring the Navy a step closer to producing a next-generation, long-range weapon for surface ships. The new launcher brings advanced material and high-power technologies in a system that now resembles a large-caliber gun. Railguns and other weapons considered exotic today may provide powerful new capabilities for surface ships, possibly equipping them for new missions. U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams

Electromagnetic Railgun Prototype | Defense Media Network

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, prepare to test the Office of Naval Research-funded electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher...

Some history about John Dahlgren.

Dahlgren gun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dahlgren guns were muzzle loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, (November 13, 1809 – July 12, 1870) mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32-pounder being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner. He believed safer, more powerful naval cannon could be designed using more scientific design criteria. Dahlgren guns were designed with a smooth curved shape, equalizing strain and concentrating more weight of metal in the gun breech where the greatest pressure of expanding propellant gases needed to be met to keep the gun from bursting. Because of their rounded contours, Dahlgren guns were nicknamed "soda bottles", a shape which became their most identifiable characteristic.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

World's most powerful electromagnetic rail gun

World's most powerful electromagnetic rail gun

Electromagnetic (EM) railguns represent a revolutionary, war fighting capability with the potential to deliver lethal firepower at ranges in excess of 200 nautical miles. An EM gun uses an extremely high current flow to create an electromagnetic force that will propel projectiles at speeds greater than Mach 7.0. On 10 December 2010, at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Viriginia, USA, an electromagnetic railgun set a new world record with a 33 megajoule (33 million joules) shot. A single megajoule is approximately the equivalent of a one-ton vehicle travelling at 100 mph. Hence a 33 megajoule shot represents enormous force that is sufficient to destroy targets at extreme ranges without the use of explosive. The same principle has been used in the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System designed for the launch catapaults of the new US Gerald R Ford class of aircraft carrier.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

 

[ankur26888]

Railguns are being researched as weapons with projectiles that do not contain explosives, but are given extremely high velocities: 3,500 m/s (11,500 ft/s, approximately Mach 10 at sea level) or more (for comparison, the M16 rifle has a muzzle speed of 930 m/s, or 3,050 ft/s), which would make their kinetic energy equal far superior to the energy yield of an explosive-filled shell of greater mass. This would decrease ammunition size and weight, allowing more ammunition to be carried and eliminating the hazards of carrying explosives in a tank or naval weapons platform. Also, by firing at greater velocities, railguns have greater range, less bullet drop, faster time on target and less wind drift, bypassing the physical limitations of conventional firearms, "the limits of gas expansion prohibit launching an unassisted projectile to velocities greater than about 1.5 km/s and ranges of more than 50 miles [80 km] from a practical conventional gun system."[citation needed]

The increased launch velocities of railguns would also allow greater capability for both offensive and defensive applications as compared to traditional weapons. The greater kinetic energy and decreased time on target associated with increased launch velocities, when coupled with non-traditional rounds, allow a single railgun to effectively attack both airborne and land or sea based targets.

If it were possible to apply the technology as a rapid-fire automatic weapon, a railgun would have further advantages of increased rate of fire. The feed mechanisms of a conventional firearm must move to accommodate the propellant charge as well as the ammunition round, while a railgun would only need to accommodate the projectile. Furthermore, a railgun would not have to extract a spent cartridge case from the breech, meaning that a fresh round could be cycled almost immediately after the previous round has been shot.

Many critics of weaponized railgun systems claim running at a decent rate of speed would consume too much power, though this would likely not be a problem for nuclear-powered systems such as on large warships or submarines.

The first weaponized railgun planned for production, the General Atomics Blitzer system, began full system testing in September 2010. The weapon launches a streamlined discarding sabot round designed by Boeing's Phantom Works at 1600 m/s (approximately Mach 5) with accelerations exceeding 60,000 g's.[18] During one of the tests, the projectile was able to travel an additional 7km (~4 mi) downrange after penetrating a 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick steel plate. The company hopes to have an integrated demo of the system by 2016 followed by production by 2019, pending funding. Thus far, the project is self-funded.[19]

 

[ankur26888]

Tests
Diagram showing the cross-section of a linear motor cannon

Full-scale models have been built and fired, including a very successful 90 mm bore, 9 MJ kinetic energy gun developed by the US DARPA. Rail and insulator wear problems still need to be solved before railguns can start to replace conventional weapons. Probably the oldest consistently successful system was built by the UK's Defence Research Agency at Dundrennan Range in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. This system has now been operational for over 10 years at an associated flight range for internal, intermediate, external and terminal ballistics, and achieved several mass and velocity records.[citation needed]

The Yugoslavian MTI (MTI - Military - technology institute) developed, within a project named EDO-0, a railgun with 7 kJ kinetic energy, in 1985. In 1987 a successor was created, project EDO-1, that used projectile with a mass of 0.7 kg and achieved speeds of 3,000 m/s, and with a mass of 1.1 kg reached speeds of 2,400 m/s. It used a track length of 0.7 m. According to those working on it, with other modifications it was able to achieve a speed of 4,500 m/s. The aim was to achieve projectile speed of 7,000 m/s. At the time, it was considered a military secret.[citation needed]

The United States military is funding railgun experiments. At the University of Texas at Austin Centre for Electromechanics, military railguns capable of delivering tungsten armor piercing bullets with kinetic energies of nine megajoules have been developed.[20] 9 MJ is enough energy to deliver 2 kg of projectile at 3 km/s–at that velocity a rod of tungsten or another dense metal could easily penetrate a tank, and potentially pass through it.

The United States Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division demonstrated an 8 MJ railgun firing 3.2 kg projectiles in October 2006 as a prototype of a 64 MJ weapon to be deployed aboard Navy warships. The main problem the U.S. Navy has had with implementing a railgun cannon system is that the guns wear out due to the immense heat produced by firing. Such weapons are expected to be powerful enough to do a little more damage than a BGM-109 Tomahawk missile at a fraction of the projectile cost.[21] Since then, BAE Systems has delivered a 32 MJ prototype to the U.S. Navy.[22]

On January 31, 2008 the US Navy tested a railgun that fired a shell at 10.64 MJ with a muzzle velocity of 2,520 m/s.[23] Its expected performance is a muzzle velocity over 5,800 m/s, accurate enough to hit a 5 metre target over 200 nmi (370 km) away while firing at 10 shots per minute. The power was provided by a new 9-megajoule (MJ) prototype capacitor bank using solid-state switches and high-energy-density capacitors delivered in 2007 and an older 32-MJ pulse power system from the US Army's Green Farm Electric Gun Research and Development Facility developed in the late 1980s that was previously refurbished by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (EMS) Division.[24] It is expected to be ready between 2020 to 2025.[25]

A test of a railgun took place on December 10, 2010, by the US Navy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.[26] During the test, the Office of Naval Research set a world record by conducting a 33 MJ shot from the railgun, which was built by BAE Systems.[27][28]

A more recent test took place in February 2012 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. While similar in energy to the aforementioned test, the railgun used is considerably more compact, with a more conventional looking barrel.[29] A General Atomics built prototype was delivered for testing in October 2012.[30]