Electromagnetic guns: New weapons do not need explosives

The US Navy has just fired a successful test of the electromagnetic gun. This new weapon does not need explosives, only by electromagnetic force, it can fire bullets as far as 500km at 7 times the speed of sound!

The US Navy has just fired a successful test of the electromagnetic gun at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia. Electromagnetic guns use high-powered electromagnetic energy to explode, sending bullets far and faster than any previous gun.

Complete electric guns from now until 2016

If the maximum capacity is reached, this type of gun can carry warheads farther than 200 nautical miles (about 500 km). Meanwhile, the current guns of the US Navy have only been able to carry warheads about 20 miles (33 km). And with a tremendous velocity of the warhead (at the tip of Mach 7 and reaching Mach 5 at the target), the electromagnetic gun will destroy the target with kinetic energy instead of destroying with explosive energy like conventional guns. .

According to Professor Elizabeth D'Andrea, chairing the project of developing electromagnetic guns said one of the biggest advantages of electromagnetic guns is safety. Because the electromagnetic gun does not use propellant, the safety of carrying on board is greatly increased.

However, in the process of deploying the project of developing electromagnetic guns, scientists also encountered some difficulties: the manufacture of launching devices, electrical impulse devices and directional design. The goal of this project is to create an electromagnetic gun that achieves absolute capacity - an integrated gun intended to be released around 2016-2018.

This is a large-load destroyer that receives the target's location coordinates away from the ship about 200 miles (about 340 km).Instead of launching a million-dollar Tomahawk missile, the ship pointed the gun at the target, sending electrical power from the ship's engine to the turret, and launching a 40-pound (18-kilogram), 3-long warhead. foot (about 1m) up on superconducting rail tracks.The warhead flew out of the barrel with supersonic velocity and escaped from the Earth's atmosphere, then returned to the satellite's direction and landed in less than 6 minutes.This amazing speed will 'evaporate' the target with just kinetic energy and will not use any explosives!

The US Naval Research Agency's program to develop electromagnetic guns is part of the investments of the Navy Ministry of Science and Technology, to develop new technology to support the US Navy during the war.

The US Naval Research Agency has cleverly established a relationship between leading scientists and engineers from well-known firms such as Boeing, Charles Stark Drapper Laboratory, General Atomics, Department of Energy (Department Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory), US Naval Academy, US Naval Postgraduate School (Naval Postgraduate School), Naval Sea Systems Naval Command, Naval Surface Warfare War Center - Subdivision Carderdock and Dahlgren, the US Army and the British Army.

Electromagnetic gun: The main weapon in the future .

The advantage of this type of gun will turn destroyers into machine guns with super range, capable of firing dozens of warheads per minute and cost is not expensive. The US Navy is cooperating with the UK Ministry of Defense in an effort to test the gun.

Another advantage of the electromagnetic gun is that the US ship can only carry up to 70 guided missiles and is forced to return to the port to supplement the missile to the ship in the middle of the sea. On the contrary, bullets from electromagnetic guns can be easily boarded in the middle of the sea and ships can carry hundreds of pellets. Also, the launchers of electromagnetic guns do not contain explosives, so it is safe for warships.

However, Captain Roger McGinnis, the project manager for developing direct energy weapons at Naval Sea Systems Command Naval Command, judged that the US device would not be "delivered". before 2015.

Operational model of electromagnetic guns (Photo: How Stuff Works)

Electromagnetic gun manufacturing technology is not new because it has been around for more than 20 years. However, the scientists' initial efforts were not effective because no ship could generate or store enough electricity to make the gun fire.

This idea was resurrected a few years ago when the US Navy announced plans to build the next-generation battleship called all-electric DD (X). McGinnis explained: 'Previously, destroyers used up to 90% of the energy attached to propulsion. However, with DD (X), you can convert energy to whatever you want. We can stop the ship and shoot, the ship will transfer energy back to the propeller. '

In the immediate future, difficulties are still posed to scientists. That's how the gun can hit the target with the highest accuracy and build a device that can resist the enormous pressure created by the gun.

Electromagnetic gun bullets will fly about 290 miles within 6 minutes - initially at about 8,200 feet per second (2,500 m / sec) and destroy targets at about 5,000 feet per second (about 1,750 m / s) ). Current US Navy guns fired shells carrying explosive detonators with a maximum range of only 12 miles (about 20 km), and almost unspecified, so the control of bullets hit The goal is very difficult.

Bui Thanh (According to Popsci and Globalsecurity, Vietnamnet)