This was published 8 years ago
US Navy's new destroyer Zumwalt will test fire the futuristic electromagnetic rail gun
The US Navy's $US4 billion futuristic destroyer Zumwalt, which is beginning sea trials in the Atlantic, will be testing high-tech weapons never before seen at sea.
The long anticipated 186-metre-long, 14,043-tonne destroyer has an unconventional pyramid-shaped hull that slopes out at the bottom with a stealthy "tumblehome" design, rather than sloping in like most warships.
That should make it harder to find on radar, but also has long raised questions about how stable it will be when facing tough seas.
Apart from the design, the other major trial will be of an electromagnetic rail gun under development by the Office of Naval Research.
The US Navy's destroyer Zumwalt.Credit: US Navy
The Zumwalt — which will receive its "USS" designation when it is christened — is commanded by Navy Captain James Kirk, who shares his name with the fictional Star Trek captain.
The ship includes a new all-electric power design in which the ship's gas-turbine engines power generators, rather than propellers.
The propellers are powered from the electricity through electromagnets, conserving energy for other tasks such as the rail gun.
The weapon uses electromagnetic (EM) pulses — known as the Lorenz Force — to launch projectiles at Mach 7, or seven times the speed of sound, at targets up to 177 km away.
The US Navy's Electromagnetic (EM) Rail gun prototype launcher.Credit: US Navy
This guided projectile is launched at such high velocities that it can achieve greater ranges than conventional guns. It maintains enough kinetic energy that it doesn't require any kind of high explosive payload when it reaches its target.
High-energy EM rail guns, which can be operated by just one person, are expected to be lethal and effective against multiple threats, including enemy warships, small boats, aircraft, missiles and land-based targets.
Captain James A. Kirk, the commanding officer of the Zumwalt.Credit: US Navy
The use of non-explosive projectiles means not only greater safety for the crew and gunners, but it makes the weapon much, much cheaper to run.
Each 46cm projectile costs about $US25,000, compared to $US500,000 to $US1.5 million for conventional missiles, according to the Navy.
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