Weapons

US Army eyes electromagnetic railgun as navy test plans unfold

The US Navy's (USN's) electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) programme is moving ahead through several lines of effort, and officials are considering ways to apply the system to land-based air defence.

In the near term, the USN's fifth and newest Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV), USNSTrenton , is to host the first at-sea demonstration of the EMRG sometime in 2016, but the navy is also working to develop a GPS-guided Hypervelocity Projectile (HPV) that can be steered towards targets, and hopes to integrate a 'repetitive rate' firing the railgun for trials at sea in 2019, according to Rear Admiral Bryant Fuller, deputy commander for ship design, integration, and naval engineering at Naval Sea Systems Command.