Chinese scientists recently successfully tested a new electromagnetic orbital launch system, an achievement that is considered a major breakthrough in the field of electromagnetism. According to reports, the team of Professor Lu Junyong of the Chinese Naval Engineering University conducted a series of tests, successfully tested the system, and safely completed 120 launch tests. This new electromagnetic orbital launch system allows for rapid projectile firing and maintaining high accuracy without causing damage to the trajectory. The research results of this new technology were published by Professor Lu Junyong's team in the Journal of Naval University of Engineering on November 10. Unlike conventional electromagnetic guns, this new system uses a core component consisting of two electromagnetic tracks and an armature. A pulsed power supply discharges the system, creating a magnetic force that pushes the armature forward. Both the speed and thrust of the armature can be controlled by the amplitude of the pulse power supply.
Due to the overheating problem that occurs when the armature travels at high speed in orbit, the traditional electromagnetic gun will be damaged by cauterization and will no longer be able to be used. However, the new system is said to be able to maintain high accuracy in the case of continuous firing without causing damage to the track. It is worth mentioning that the United States had previously encountered technical difficulties with electromagnetic guns, and finally abandoned the relevant projects due to the difficulty and high cost of tackling them. However, Chinese scientists seem to have succeeded in overcoming these technical difficulties and achieved remarkable results. This breakthrough means China's technological leadership in the field of electromagnetic technology and injects new impetus into China's development in the field of military technology. Professor Lu Junyong and his team pointed out in their first article that it is difficult for traditional materials to have properties such as high melting point, high hardness and high electrical conductivity. Therefore, they recommend covering the track surface with a layer of low-conductivity material, while the substrate is made of a high-conductivity material to reduce damage to the track surface.
In addition, Professor Lu Junyong's team also proposed a complex control charging and multi-layer hierarchical diagnosis system, which can realize real-time monitoring of about 100,000 measurement points on the "electromagnetic gun". The system allows the scientific team to precisely control the amplitude of the pulsed power supply and initiate maintenance more quickly in the event of a failure of the electromagnetic gun. These technical solutions are the solutions of China's scientific research team for electromagnetic guns. The test results showed that this "electromagnetic gun" successfully completed 120 firing tests, and its measured muzzle velocity was about 1,985 meters to 2,000 meters per second, and the rate of fire was close to that of traditional artillery. The South China Morning Post pointed out that if the projectile is fired from the barrel at a speed of 2 kilometers per second, it means that the target of 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers is within the aiming range of this "electromagnetic gun". The range of conventional artillery is usually only a few tens of kilometers, unless a rocket extended-range projectile or a bottom-row extended-range projectile is used, but this will increase the cost of artillery strikes.
It is worth mentioning that after 120 successful tests, the trajectory of this "electromagnetic gun" is still intact, and the muzzle velocity control is better than 1% in each test. During this period, there were only three critical failures. The results of this test show that the barrel service life of this "electromagnetic gun" is close to that of traditional artillery, as pointed out in **, "whether it can maintain continuous fire is a key indicator to measure the combat capability of the electromagnetic orbital launch system." "This shipborne electromagnetic cannon is still impressive. Although China has made a major breakthrough in the field of electromagnetic guns, this does not mean that electromagnetic guns can be put into use immediately. According to another study, the caliber of the "electromagnetic gun" tested by Professor Lu Junyong's team is only 25 mm, which exceeds the 20 mm caliber limit between guns and artillery, but this is far from being a large-caliber artillery. The conclusion of this study clearly points out that this study has a certain guiding role in the optimization of electromagnetic emitting devices.
To sum up, although China is far ahead of the United States in the field of electromagnetic guns, there is still a long way to go to make electromagnetic guns actually combat.