Navy conducts rapid-fire test with electromagnetic railgun
Raw video: Weapon shoots in rapid succession using electrical pulse to launch projectiles at speeds that exceed 4,500 miles per hour
A cool video shows the U.S. Navy firing a multi-shot salvo from its cutting-edge electromagnetic railgun.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) demonstrated the Navy's railgun in a video posted to YouTube on Jul. 20. The test shows “initial rep-rate fires of multi-shot salvos” at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, ONR explained. “The revolutionary railgun relies on a massive electrical pulse, rather than gunpowder or other chemical propellants, to launch projectiles at distances over 100 nautical miles – and at speeds that exceed Mach 6,” it added.
WATCH US NAVY RESEARCHERS TEST-FIRE AN ELECTROMAGNETIC RAILGUN
Located in Dahlgren, Virginia, the facility undertakes research, development and testing for complex naval warfare systems.
The U.S. military is keen to harness railgun technology - railgun 'bullets' have been tested that could travel at more than six times the speed of sound.
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