Railgun - Applications - As Weapons

As Weapons

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 from a practical conventional gun system."

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. 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.