THE TENSION: U.S. Navy Sets Railgun Record

POST UPDATED, SEE: U.S. Navy Demonstrates World's Most Powerful Railgun

DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 28, 2008) The Office of Naval Research (ONR) 32 MJ (megajoules) Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) laboratory launcher, located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Dahlgren, Va., is the result of Naval Science and Technology research being developed by ONR as one of several Innovative Naval Prototypes. Future U.S. Navy ships will be powered by electric drive propulsion, making EMRG - which uses electricity rather than chemical propellants to launch projectiles - possible. U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams (Released)

DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 28, 2007) Particle debris ignites as a test slug exits the Office of Naval Research 32 MJ (megajoules) Electromagnetic Railgun aboratory launcher during a test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. U.S. Navy photo John F. Williams (Released)

DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 28, 2007) A test slug impacts the target after being fired from the Office of Naval Research 32 MJ (megajoule) Electromagnetic Railgun laboratory launcher during a test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. U.S. Navy photo John F. Williams (Released)

DAHLGREN, Va. (Nov. 28, 2007) The Office of Naval Research 32 MJ (megajoules) Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) laboratory launcher, located on board the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, is operational and preparing to set the world record for the highest muzzle energy launch of a projectile 10 MJ. When operational, the rail gun will fire projectiles at ranges in excess of 200 nautical miles. U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams (Released)

DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 16, 2006) - Andrew Wyman, center, range test engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), explains the impact from the Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) to Rear Adm. William E. Landay, Chief of Naval Research, left, and Rear Adm. Victor G. Guillory, Deputy Director of Surface Warfare, following a ribbon cutting ceremony for the EM Launch Facility. The mission of the EMRG program is to develop the science and technology necessary to design, test, produce, and install a revolutionary 64 Mega Joule EMRG aboard U.S. Navy ships in the 2020-2025 timeframe. U.S. Navy photo by Mr. John F. Williams (RELEASED)

DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 16, 2006) - Dr. Elizabeth D'Andrea, Office of Naval Research Code 352 Program Manager, right, discusses the Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) program with Rear Adm. William E. Landay, Chief of Naval Research, prior to a ribbon cutting ceremony for the EM Launch Facility at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD). The mission of the EMRG program is to develop the science and technology necessary to design, test, produce, and install a revolutionary 64 Mega Joule EMRG aboard U.S. Navy ships in the 2020-2025 timeframe. U.S. Navy photo by Mr. John F. Williams (RELEASED)

Focus On Defense:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2008 -- Media outlets today reported a futuristic weapon getting a trial run by the Navy demonstrated its destructive power at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren.

In the demonstration Thursday, engineers fired the electromagnetic railgun at what they said was a record power level: 10 megajoules.

Video from FOX News.

The International Herald Tribune reported the Navy said Navy said it generated on the strongest-ever force of its kind used to fire a futuristic weapon designed to boost naval gunfire range more than 10 times by 2020.

Development of the so-called electromagnetic railgun began in earnest in 2006 under contracts awarded to BAE Systems and closely held General Atomics, which produces the Predator family of remotely piloted aircraft.

The system, when fully developed, would send an electric current along parallel rails to shoot a shell more than 200 nautical miles, or 230 miles, at seven times the speed of sound and within five meters of the target. Conventional guns, by contrast, rely on chemical powders to launch projectiles.

"Railguns are a big deal in science fiction," Tom Boucher, the test director, said by telephone from a naval laboratory in Dahlgren, Virginia, where the event took place.

The test on Thursday fired a 3.2-kilogram projectile less than 100 feet at the Naval Warfare Center-Dahlgren Division in Virginia but achieved the speed needed to propel it 200 miles, Boucher said.

This was done by accelerating it to 2,500 meters per second, or 5,600 miles per hour, the Office of Naval Research said in a background paper.

"We've pushed the physics envelop today," said Cathy Partusch, a spokeswoman for the Office of Naval Research. "Now we aim to take the underlying science and technology to the next stages."