Development of a high-energy distributed energy source electromagnetic railgun with improved energy conversion efficiency

Vought Corporation in cooperation with the Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas (CEM-UT) has developed under sponsorship by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Army Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command (AMCCOM) a high-energy distributed energy source (DES) electromagnetic (EM) railgun accelerator. This paper discusses the development and current status of the DES railgun which has the design capability to launch projectile masses up to 60 grams to the 3-4 km/sec velocity regime with energy conversion efficiencies above 35 percent. These goals are being accomplished through utilization of scaled-energy CEM-UT railgun experiments for sequenced timing/staging and a full energy (575 kJ) design at Vought for high efficiency capability. The operational Vought single-pulse railgun forms the baseline for the full energy testing.