Distributed energy store powered railguns for hypervelocity launch

It is noted that several deficiencies hamper full-scale railgun development for hypervelocity applications. Two key deficiencies are lack of hypervelocity performance (i.e., >6 km/s) and lack of compact power supplies. Highly distributed power supplies address these deficiencies. A railgun powered by highly distributed energy stores reduces the rail-to-rail voltage behind the main armature, reducing the tendency to secondary armature current formation. Secondary current elimination is necessary to overcome the velocity limit. Feasibility assessments of two distributed energy store schemes have been completed. A nested rail, distributed energy store (NESDES) system and an ultra distributed energy store system (UDESS) have been used to remove the rail-to-rail voltage. Analytical and experimental data are presented on both schemes. The results indicate that the aforementioned deficiencies are addressed