The Kirkcudbright Electromagnetic Launch Facility

The UK Ministry of Defense is preparing a new electromagnetic launch facility at the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) range, in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. The facility will be used to obtain ballistic data on hypervelocity projectiles to demonstrate their potential use in the tactical scenario. The facility is designed to allow the use of a broad range of electromagnetic (EM) guns, as well as electrothermal (ET) guns. The facility includes a 2 km instrumented range to assess the performance of the gun/projectile system. Two firing points will be available inside the building for use with EM guns, one firing down the 2 km instrumented range, the other firing to a stop butt 100 m from the building. ET guns tested at the facility will be located outside the building, in an enclosed blockhouse, and can be fired down the instrumented range. The pulsed power system stores 32.2 MJ at 11 kV in 29 independently triggerable capacitor bank modules. The facility will begin operation using an electromagnetic railgun of 90 mm bore, with an accelerating length of 7 m