According to the South China Morning Post, an article published by Lu Junyong's team in the Journal of the Naval University of Engineering confirmed that China has made a new breakthrough in the field of electromagnetic railguns, which marks an important technological achievement. The electromagnetic railgun is a type of electromagnetic gun, which is regarded as a high-speed kinetic energy killing with broad development prospects. Many countries, including the United States, Japan, and Russia, are conducting electromagnetic railgun research to varying degrees, and China is not far behind in this area. In short, electromagnetic railguns use electromagnetic field acceleration technology to allow the projectile to obtain an extremely high muzzle velocity to strike at the target. Compared with traditional gunpowder launch, this launch method has obvious advantages in terms of lethality and range.
Judging by the basic composition, the electromagnetic railgun consisted of two rails and an armature, on which the projectile was placed in front of the armature. Under the action of a strong current, a magnetic field is formed between the guides, which generates a strong electromagnetic force, which provides power to the projectile. Once fired, the projectile can accelerate hundreds of thousands of times faster than gravity, which is quite an astonishing value. The concept of electromagnetic railguns has existed since World War II, when a German expert developed an electromagnetic gun that could accelerate 10g of aluminum projectiles to 108km s. Although, by modern standards, this is not a real railgun, since the current projectile launched by gunpowder can also reach a maximum velocity of 18km s, but this is undoubtedly one of the earliest explorations in the field.
The earliest achievements of modern electromagnetic guns can be traced back to the United States, where in 1992 a range test of a 90 mm caliber and a kinetic energy of 9 megajoules was conducted. The U.S. side had pinned its hopes on the development of a stable electromagnetic railgun, which is believed to completely change the future strategic direction of the U.S. Navy. It is said that this ** has a powerful enough power to deter tanks, missiles and fighter jets. During a test by the U.S. military, a projectile weighing only 11 kilograms was launched from orbit, penetrating 7 layers of steel plates, leaving holes in the steel plates with a diameter of about 10 centimeters, showing its amazing power.
The kinetic energy formula ek mv2 2 shows that with a certain mass of the object, the higher the velocity, the greater the kinetic energy, so the kinetic energy of the object can increase indefinitely. The "lethality" of an attacking object is largely determined by its kinetic energy, and the high speed that an electromagnetic railgun can achieve will undoubtedly greatly increase its lethality. For example, a projectile is launched from an electromagnetic orbital device at speeds of up to several kilometers per second, and such an impact is almost impossible to stop. One of the reasons why the electromagnetic cannon is powerful is that the projectile continues to accelerate during firing, while in the firing of ordinary guns, the projectile loses acceleration after it is discharged. According to tests conducted by the US side, the projectile can reach a speed of 7,200 km/h, which is equivalent to six times the speed of sound.
Suppose this projectile is fired from Washington, it will reach Philadelphia in less than two minutes. From this point of view, the lethality, speed and range of the electromagnetic railgun are considerable, and the United States has invested billions of dollars in the research and development of the railgun, which shows the importance it attaches to it. As a new type of electromagnetic gun, it has a wide range of application scenarios. In addition to being able to be used to combat tanks and missiles, it is more important that it can be widely used on ships. Due to the small size of the electromagnetic cannon relative to the missile, it can be massively equipped on ships. Take a destroyer as an example, it can carry about 100 missiles, while the same destroyer can carry about 1,000 electromagnetic gun projectiles, a difference of 10 times.
And, more critically, the cost of the electromagnetic gun is lower. Taking the US military interceptor missile as an example, its cost is about $10 million, while a projectile of an electromagnetic railgun only costs tens of thousands of dollars, which shows its obvious advantages. However, like anything, electromagnetic railguns have their disadvantages. First of all, it requires a lot of electrical energy, and the requirements for the carrying platform are high, and it is difficult for ordinary ships to meet their needs. In terms of specific figures, if 10 projectiles need to be fired, a power plant with an installed capacity of 25 megawatts and a large capacitor bank would be required, and such a power plant would need to provide electricity for nearly 20,000 households.
Secondly, the range of the electromagnetic cannon is limited, generally around a few hundred kilometers, and this range is within the range of the opponent's anti-ship missiles, so it is difficult to play a role in practical applications. Finally, the firepower of the electromagnetic cannon is poor, and the orbit of its device is easily damaged, and the orbit needs to be replaced after 10-20 launch missions. To sum up, as a new type of electromagnetic gun, although it has many advantages, it also faces some challenges and limitations. In the future, we look forward to seeing continuous improvements and breakthroughs in this technology, bringing new possibilities to modern military equipment and methods of warfare. In recent years, although the US military has hyped up the potential of electromagnetic railguns, this voice has now been greatly weakened.
It can even be said that the US military has abandoned the research and development of electromagnetic railguns to a certain extent. As for the specific reason, it is not yet known. The United States ** "Defense News" once claimed that the US military had to abandon the research and development of electromagnetic railguns because of insufficient funds. However, the argument seems far-fetched to some extent. In addition to the lack of funds, I believe that the US military's abandonment of the development of electromagnetic railguns may also be constrained by technical difficulties, which is also a factor that cannot be ignored. In stark contrast to the attitude of the US military, China's research and development of electromagnetic railguns is in full swing. According to the relevant data of foreign media, the range of the US electromagnetic cannon is about 180 kilometers, while the range of China's electromagnetic cannon is about 270 kilometers, and the speed can reach 7Around Mach 5.
Although the authenticity of these data is difficult to determine, they have some reference significance. In my opinion, our country's electromagnetic guns are quite capable of achieving the above performance parameters. The outside world may question whether it is necessary for China to continue to invest resources in research and development since the US military has given up the research of electromagnetic railguns. However, I believe that the fact that the US military has given up does not mean that our country cannot develop it, nor does it mean that this kind of ** has no potential value. In the event of a breakthrough in range, it is not impossible for electromagnetic railguns to replace anti-ship missiles. The most important thing is that it has a low cost and is very suitable for long-term use, and our country has also carried out relevant tests on the project 936 tank landing ship, which shows that certain breakthroughs and achievements have been made in terms of technology.
Judging from the current breakthroughs made by Lu Junyong's team in the field of electromagnetic guns, they have solved three core problems. This shows the potential and strength of our country in electromagnetic railgun technology. Although the attitude of the US military may make people doubt the prospects of electromagnetic railguns, I believe that the development of our country in this field is still worth looking forward to. The electromagnetic railgun launch system is a complex system that involves a large number of components and a complex electrical system. Therefore, ensuring that the projectile maintains high accuracy when firing at high speed is a key issue. In addition, the issue of the life of the track is also of great concern. Due to the complexity of the system, fault detection and diagnostics are also indispensable.
After the relevant research of Lu Junyong's team, they achieved reliable multi-burst accurate control of better than 1%, and carried out reliable real-time monitoring of 100,000 measurement points in the whole system. What's even more exciting is that they safely completed 120 consecutive launches with high accuracy, and the system automatically diagnosed 3 faults. The most critical aspect of this breakthrough is that it overcomes the problem that the guide rails are easily damaged during multiple launches. The U.S. military's electromagnetic railgun needs to be replaced when it is fired less than 20 times, and Lu Junyong's team's latest breakthrough can fire 120 times in a row, which is far beyond the U.S. military.