DAHLGREN, Va.
Science got one step closer to science fiction Thursday morning, when the Navy used an electromagnetic railgun to fire a 7-pound slug at seven times the speed of sound.
The record-breaking shot, witnessed by a roomful of VIPs via remote camera at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, also moved the armed forces further down the road to a faster, safer, lighter, cheaper form of firepower.
Moments before, a split screen showed an engineer at a control panel and a target that stood several miles away.
“Armed,” he said.
Then: thick smoke.
Target gone.
Applause.
After the shot, Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations and a former gunnery officer, praised the test.
“I never want to see a sailor or Marine in a fair fight,” he said. “I always want them to have the advantage.”
The railgun’s technology is straightforward and potent, making it a long-time favorite of fiction writers and video game makers, though in sometimes fanciful variations, such as a hand-held version in the “Quake” series.
The Navy’s railgun is basically a long tube lined with two copper alloy rails. When charged by an enormous pulse of electricity, these rails exert a tremendous force that sends an inert projectile out at incredible speed.
And the more juice generated, the more muzzle velocity the weapon has and the farther and faster the projectile can go.
Thursday’s test produced a record 10.86 megajoules, which sent the 7-pound aluminum slug at Mach 7 (more than 5,000 mph) for 80 meters, a roughly 20-millisecond ride.
The Navy’s ultimate goal is a ship-mounted weapon capable of firing missiles 200 nautical miles in a six-minute arc into outer space and back to land, guided by GPS.
This dwarfs the range of the Navy’s current workhorse gun, the 5-inch MK 45, which shoots about 13 nautical miles.
The railgun uses electricity to propel its missiles, so they carry no fuel. The damage is caused purely by the kinetic energy of the missiles’ descent, which is projected to reach Mach 5, so they carry no warheads.
This means the missiles are cheaper. They are also smaller and safer, making them easier to store aboard ships and allowing for more variety in a vessel’s design.
For the Marines the gun would support, there are further benefits.
A ship carrying a rail gun would be able to begin bombarding the shore much sooner, far beyond radar range. It also would be able to fire more quickly.
The gun has a projected accuracy of 5 meters, which would minimize risk to Marines on the ground as well as any collateral damage.
But for now, that is still the future.
The present stood several miles from the VIP viewing room, where the railgun awaited its next test.
Along one side of the building, a series of capacitors rose like a two-story hybrid of a transistor radio and 1980s-era computer circuit board.
Cables snaked from these capacitors like oversized distributor cables leading to several dozen gigantic spark plugs mounted at the rear of the 40-ton metal box housing the gun itself.
During the gun’s five-minute priming, these capacitors drew energy from the power grid and stored it like a camera flash.
When fired, the 32-megajoule pulse surged through the wires, creating tremendous force and heat and sending the missile into an outside trap.
Elizabeth D’Andrea, the railgun’s project manager, stood by the gun Thursday and spoke of the challenges still ahead.
These include the extreme wear on the launcher and the projectile, which experiences a force of 40,000 G’s as it leaves the gun, as well as the materials needed for a projectile to handle four minutes in outer space at the apex of its arc.
Another problem comes in shrinking the capacitors to fit aboard a ship, as well as powering and cooling the weapon once it’s aboard, controlling electromagnetic interference and making the entire weapon maneuverable.
The goal, D’Andrea said, is to mount the weapon on a future generation all-electric ship by the year 2025.
At the gun site, Roughead declined to speculate on when the weapon would be ready and on what kind of ship it would be mounted .
“There’s a long way to go,” he said.
There is no cost estimate at this point, said Rear Adm. William Landay III, chief of naval research.
Outside the building, Andrew Wyman, a range test engineer, stood in a three-sided concrete shed. Behind him, a steel box mounted on a railcar held 5,000 pounds of sand.
This was the missile trap and it looked the part: The sand was pushed far back into and up the box’s sides, which splayed out like frozen silver paint.
Nearby lay the tatters of the foamboard target, partially reassembled.
“You’re dealing with lightning and thunder when you shoot this thing,” he said, holding up a small chunk of aluminum, the last of the slug.
The shot Thursday was roughly the 100th since this round of testing began in October 2006, he said. The lab plans to go to six tests a week starting next week.
Nearby stood Roger Ellis, a technical director.
He said the project has attracted a broad spectrum of scientists, with its focus on materials, electricity, mechanics, chemistry and even plasma physics.
“It’s tremendously exciting. We’re making history here,” he said. “This is more than just a paycheck for the engineers working here.”
Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com
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Ignorance is in the eye of the beholder
Have you ever heard of Nuclear? I would hope that they would be using energy from Nuclear plants instead of Fossil Fuel plants. The government has 4 Nuclear plants pumping out energy 24/7 straight into the ground just to make weapons grade plutonium. I would hope they would be using Nuclear power for this project.
Not every bit of electricity comes from Fossil Fuels.
IGNORANCE.
It amazes me how many people say things like putting this technology to a better use like an alternative to the combustion engine. What they fail to think about is how much more oil and coal is needed to produce the electricity needed for said projects. Charging capacitors or batteries of a magnitude to produce power needed to propel a vehicle or projectile in this case requires large amounts of electricity and based on what my bill is in the summer with the ac running 24/7 I think I will stick with my gas engine!
Research Costs...
How much research from the space program ended up becoming a daily part of our lives? What are the practical, everyday, results of the technology that is being developed? Sometimes things start in the military but have a way of filtering out into civilian applications. Keep up the good work.
Every human should praise R & D associated with US Military....
Just like NASA has been a major contributor to the techologies that common folks throughout the world are using today making their lives much easier and better, the same can be said for the US military. Only the uninformed would make such negative comments about this breakthrough. This has significant ramifications for the future of warfare and overall safety for future ships that employ this technology. Replacing explosives with tungsten slugs will make life so much easier from storgage, handling, magazine capacity, ranges, weight, etc. There were many that doubted our ability to hit a bullet with a bullet with missile defense. But with each test the U S Navy conducts, we continue to prove the naysayers wrong. There are no defenses for kinetic energy short of burying yourself deep within the earth. If you are on a ship, or aircraft, and are hit by one of the slugs. Imagine the kinetic energy and sheer destruction. In warfare, you don't want a FAIR fight by ANY means. In a perfect world, we would never have to deal with war. For the freedom that we all enjoy, there is a price to be paid in advance and that cost is what we spend in R & D to protect our way of life.
Nice work...
I'm a sci-fi fan, and I'm glad to see that we're using the technology afforded by electromagnets for more than just trains and roller coasters (ever wonder how some of the new roller coaster rides take off so fast? The technology is similar to that used in the railgun- except the car takes the place of the projectile). Anyhow, it would be nice if grocery stores started selling tiny versions of this gun so that I could pick off the various large bugs I sometimes see at work...
as it should be...
Not having a fair fight I mena. Of course Obama or Hillary would not see this to fruition.
WAY COOL!!
Want to meet your 72 Virgins? Let the railgun hook you up!! Way to go Navy Engineers!!
Some questions on the rail gun
I like the idea. I suppose some of the smoke is from reaction with the air given the speed of the projectile.
I wonder when its deployed on a ship, if it will be like the fictional Star Trek Romulan vessels which requires all its energy to charge and fire the weapons while diminishing other systems like fire control, radar. etc
If there's a battle and the ship is damaged and cannot charge the weapon, will it also carry conventional shells and guns.
Could the gun, instead of firing kinetic projectiles, also be used to fire non-kinetic weapons like lasers and microwaves.
How will a guided projectile protect its sensitive electronics from the initial hyper shock.
Again, this is a tremendous step in technological evolution.
Insight & Corrections
It is "science fiction to science fact"! 10.0 megajoule = 7375621.493 pound-force foot. Believe me, you don't want to be near a square foot when 7 million lbs of force impacts. As to the smoke?..Again, when this much energy is transmitted to an object, yes, there will be residual interaction with the atmosphere. As to the money being spent? Do you really think conventional air-to-ground ordinance equals the price of a hamburger? Costs associated with these approach 1 million apiece. I fail to see how 50 aluminum projectiles will be more costly than 50 conventional projectiles. Initial R&D is expensive yes. Technology is expensive. As to transportation issues?..Yes, certainly viable, given the nature of materials. We need to attract young people into this line of research (not just weapons)But somehow, tax dollars in Chesapeake fund student classes in "Nail Salon technology"! Yep, real cutting edge technology there!
Whew!
From MagLev trains and MagLev coasters to MagLev missiles with GPS. Thank God for making America the most advanced Nation-State on the planet in only 231 years. Able to feed half the world and defend them too. Congratulations to all of our hard working Top Clearance folks in Dahlgren, Nevada, and JPL Cali whose work is so secret, they'd have to kill us before they could tell us.
No second place trophy in war
It takes research to stay in first place in military strength. It is expensive, but the alternative is a lot more expensive.
The true value of our military over the last 50 years, which is unparalleled in history, is that ONLY crazy people attack us.
Deterrence is not cheap, but who can place a price tags on the wars we have not had to fight because sane people with conflicting interests find other ways to deal with us to be more survivable than engaging us militarily?
A Fair Fight Well Said Admiral
I like what the Admiral said! As for me, I don't want our men & women in a fair fight if fighting has to be done. I want them to have the advantage & to win, no matter what the monetary cost is. If I'm going to be taxed to death..... I want my money's worth, & all our combatants to return to us. Technology may be our only hope in light of public support, or lack thereof, of any conflict we are involved in, or seeing it through..to the end.
The new wars
Is this really effective for the new style of warfare? We already have established the fact that we are superior in air power. We are superior in ground forces. So the enemy adjusts their game where our defenses aren't good, and fly our planes into our buildings. Rail guns aren't going to stop unconventional attacks, and you can't blame the other side for using unconventional attacks (But we can kill em for doing so, of course). So I don't really see where the rail gun is going to help thwart these new types of attack, where nutty religious people are willing to die for lame causes.
U.S. Supremacy
The ultimate goal is to put these things in orbit, then the U.S. president can vaporize any spot on earth in seconds. Just wait till we elect the next Bush.
Railgun
The main reason the Navy has developed this more powerful weapon is because the terrorists are determined to conquer the world. To them the USA is the "Great Satan" and we are their primary target. We do have to defend our country and it's citizens. One poster is right: those who protest the development of these weapons will be the first to complain when they are not available when another attack happens.
Depends on where you're standing
Some of you believe that the money would be better spent on other things, but I imagine you'd be singing a different tune if you were a Marine whose only chance of survival was fire support from this weapon. Unless you believe a Marine's life isn't worth the cost. Those who fight for the nation deserve all of the support the nation can provide with the greatest chance of coming home in one piece.
Electromagnetic Railgun
I love my United States Navy for their caring for their own and the versatility to fight a war...(or anything else). If it wasn't for Iran, Lybia, North Korea, Afganistan, Iraq, extreme suicide bombers, etc., ad naseau then we could concemtrate on peace efforts. You who complain about the United STates Navy (and other services)would be the first in line to cry their eyes out if we didn't have them.
Here we go again....
I love you guys who bring up the "We could've spent the money on... [Enter social program here]" question. This is typically said about the space program whose budget palls in comparison to the social programs spent in this country alone, not to mention worldwide. Oh, and let’s not mention that this small budget has brought us untold, lifesaving, life changing technology:
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/
The technology of this gun is in use in the form of Mag-Lev trains. Satellites cannot be launched because this technology cannot produce enough velocity to attain orbit. The flames come from the release of energy after the hypersonic “bullet” hits the stationary target.
Since the beginning of civilization there have been poor. The relatively small amount of money spent on this program would do nothing to solve the world's ills, so please lay off the liberal hyperbole.
People are amazing
Some of the most important inventions in human history have come about through military research.
Do we "need" Microwave ovens, X-ray machines, Radar, Air Traffic Control Systems, GPS navigation, Nuclear Power Plants, Jet propulsion systems, etc etc etc?
All of those things are offshoots of military technology.
There is no telling where this technology might someday lead. If the military wasn't investing in it, who would be? You?
Squandered Money Squandered Priorities.
What a shame that every technology must be used for weapons! Why can't we instead apply this to transportation or the launching of satellites? As another post noted, this is also a waste of money for something we do not need. The funds would have been better spent on education, healthcare, infrastructure or research on technologies that will help us adapt to a changing global environment.
Wow 240 feet
How much did this cost us? I know that if you spend enough tax $ you can put a man on the moon, but...Do we need to put ANOTHER man on the moon? All I'm saying is, "Why reinvent the wheel when a round wheel works perfectly for it's intended purpose?".
Why the flames?
If this uses electromagnetic energy to launch a ballistic projectile, and not rocket propellant or explosives, why the trail of flames following the slug? I don't get it.
Top it Off
Electro magnetic energy would be a great replacement for gas engines but we can see where our governments ptiority's are.
Way to go!
I am so proud of our US Navy. You truly are the greatest in the world. I am proud to be under your protection.
Hey,
When will I be able to buy one of these at the sporting goods store??