US NAVY
IN PHOTO: U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships steam in formation during their military manoeuvre exercise known as Keen Sword 15 in the sea south of Japan, in this November 19, 2014 handout provided by the U.S. Navy. Reuters/Stringer

The U.S. Navy’s much hyped electromagnetic "Railgun" will be on display at the Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo in Washington D.C. on February 4. The Navy plans to test the weapon at sea in 2016.

In a statement, Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Mat Winter said the Washington expo will showcase the latest naval portfolio of innovative breakthrough technologies and demonstrate the way U.S. sailors and marines will handle warfare in the future. The U.S Navy regards Railgun as a crown jewel in its “directed energy program” involving the latest laser technologies.

For Navy, Railgun's deployment will be a force multiplier in countering incoming ballistic missiles in the most cost effective manner, compared to any of the existing Anti Ballistic Missile systems, reports Sploid Gizmodo.

Striking Power

With its phenomenal striking power, Railgun’s projectile has the capability to strike targets at distances of more than 200 nautical miles from a warship in about six minutes. What makes Railgun exceptional is its use of electricity, rather than gunpowder or rocket motors to hurl hypersonic projectiles at long distances with speeds exceeding Mach 7.

There is much curiosity about Railgun as one of the several disruptive capabilities that the Naval Research Enterprise has been championing, reports New York Daily News. “Directed Energy Weapons are a critical game-changing technology for the Navy-Marine Corps Team”, James Thomsen, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, explained.

From a cost point of view also, Railgun is great. The projectile it fires costs only 1/100th the cost of conventional missiles. Moreover, these projectiles can also set off warheads from safe distance, reports IJ Review.

Battery Contract

Meanwhile, in the run up to the mass deployment of the Railgun, the U.S. Navy has given a huge order to buy $81 million worth Lithium-Iron battery to power the Naval Sea Systems Command. According to a report in Forbes magazine, the contract has been awarded to K2 Energy Solutions based in Henderson, Nevada. The storage system ordered will be to power “a large modular capacitor bank for the electromagnetic rail gun.”

The ability to generate massive pulse of electricity is a crucial dereminer in the sustained deployment of Railgun. The big contract to buy battery systems takes care of that requirement.

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