New railgun ready for testing

The railgun, which provides multi-mission, multi-domain capability with greater flexibility for ship, land and mobile platforms will be put through its paces at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the company said.

"The 10 MJ railgun system has our third-generation railgun launcher, and includes our fifth generation pulsed power system and a new mounting system that allows the launcher to elevate and train for better targeting," Nick Bucci, vice president for Missile Defense and Space Systems at GA-EMS, said in a press release. "This represents a leap forward in advancing railgun technologies, offering reduced size and weight for the launcher, twice the energy density in a significantly reduced pulsed power footprint, and more capable hypersonic projectiles."

"We'll continue to develop and mature these technologies, perform risk reduction, and test under real-world conditions to ultimately deliver a more capable, effective, and cost-efficient solution to counter future threats."

A railgun uses electromagnetic force rather than explosives to launch high velocity projectiles.

The General Atomics' railgun system integrates a High Energy Pulsed Power Container, 10 MJ launcher, hypersonic hybrid missile, and fire control technologies. The HEPPC uses next-generation railgun capacitors and a new approach to packaging and distribution of the energy in a smaller footprint than existing pulsed power solutions.

GA-EMS said this reduces the number of pulsed power containers required to launch the projectiles or hybrid missiles, which contain a guidance control unit with guidance, navigation, and control software.

GA-EMS conducted projectile component testing earlier this year. The testing also demonstrated a continuous two-way data link between the in-flight projectiles and the ground station.

Information as to when the railgun will be tested at Dugway Proving Ground was not disclosed.