Japan announced on October 17, 2023 that it had successfully conducted its first test launch of an electromagnetic cannon at sea, and announced an 8-second ** that demonstrated the power of the electromagnetic cannon. Japan claims that the electromagnetic cannon is designed to counter the threat of hypersonic ** from other countries, but ** does not show key data such as the weight of the projectile.
Why did Japan show the electromagnetic cannon so highly? What is the real level of Japanese electromagnetic guns? Can Japanese electromagnetic guns really be used to intercept hypersonics**?
The electromagnetic cannon is a kind of electromagnetic cannon that uses electromagnetic force to accelerate the projectile to ultra-high speed**, also known as "pulse energy electromagnetic cannon". The rails on both sides of the electromagnetic gun can continuously apply thrust to the projectile during firing, so that the kinetic energy of the projectile can reach ten times that of the gun, and the initial velocity of the projectile can usually reach 2000 meters per second.
Electromagnetic guns have many advantages over traditional guns, such as faster speed, greater kinetic energy, and longer range. The electromagnetic gun also has a cost advantage because it uses electricity as an energy source instead of explosives. It is estimated that the cost of producing energy per megajoule for an artillery is $10, while a railgun costs only $0$1. Judging from long-range strikes, the launch cost of a missile is more than 500,000 yuan, while the electromagnetic gun is only 2$50,000.
Therefore, the electromagnetic gun is considered one of the most promising new **, and many countries such as the United States and Japan are actively researching the electromagnetic gun.
Japan was one of the first countries to study electromagnetic guns, and as early as the 80s of the 20th century, it began to invest money in research. However, it was not until this century that a breakthrough was made in the study of electromagnetic guns in Japan.
In 2015, Japan made a major breakthrough in the research and development of 16mm electromagnetic guns, and the following year began to invest in research on how to increase the caliber of electromagnetic guns to 40mm.
In 2018, Japan announced a 16mm electromagnetic cannon sample, which theoretically has a kinetic energy of 1 megajoule and a velocity of 27 km sec. Although the electromagnetic cannon is not large, it is equipped with necessary facilities such as an electromagnetic propulsion accelerator.
In 2023, Japan announced the test launch of the maritime electromagnetic cannon**, claiming that the electromagnetic cannon can strike sea and air targets, and it may be installed on ships in the future.
According to the analysis of the American media, the Japanese electromagnetic cannon can be fired with an initial velocity of up to 6A projectile of Mach 5, the weight of the projectile itself is 320 grams. In the future, Japan envisions the possibility of attaching electromagnetic guns to destroyers, which can be used to carry out over-the-horizon strikes on islands or coastal areas.
Although the Japanese electromagnetic cannon looks powerful, it still has a lot of problems to solve before it can really be put into real combat. The main problem of these is the mass of the projectile and the volume of the power supply.
Japan announced that the weight of the projectile is only 320 grams, while the projectile of the electromagnetic cannon researched by General Atomics of the United States has reached 3 kilograms, and our country has launched an electromagnetic cannon with a projectile weight of 124 kilograms in 2023. The quality of the projectile directly affects the lethality and penetration of the electromagnetic gun, and the quality of the Japanese projectile obviously has a lot of room for improvement.
Electromagnetic guns need to consume a lot of electricity, so they need to be equipped with a power system that integrates functions such as power generation, charging, and power storage. These functional requirements determine that the size of the power system will not be small, and the space on the ship is limited and precious, how to reduce the volume of the power system is a problem that Japan needs to focus on.
In addition, the track service life of the electromagnetic gun is also a problem. The Japanese announced that the prototype gun had only 120 shells, but the service life of the parallel metal track was relatively short. If you want to use it in training or actual combat, then at least the electromagnetic gun needs thousands of shells, otherwise there is no way to deploy it on a large scale.
What is the purpose of Japan's research on electromagnetic guns? Japan claims to be responding to the threat of hypersonic ** from other countries, but can electromagnetic guns really be used to intercept hypersonics**?
Hypersonic speed refers to speeds of more than Mach 5, while Japanese electromagnetic guns can reach speeds of up to 6Mach 5, it looks like there is a certain advantage. However, hypersonic ** is characterized by strong orbit change capabilities, high maneuverability, and difficulty in being intercepted by **. And the projectile of the electromagnetic cannon can basically only fly in a straight line, which is difficult to effectively intercept hypersonic **.
In addition, the range of the electromagnetic gun was also a limiting factor. It is estimated that the firing range of the Japanese electromagnetic gun is about 200 km, while the firing range of hypersonic ** can reach thousands of kilometers. This means that the electromagnetic cannon can only be intercepted when hypersonic ** enters the sky over the homeland, which is more difficult and has a lower success rate.
Therefore, if the Japanese electromagnetic gun wants to intercept hypersonic**, there are still many technical difficulties to overcome. The real purpose of Japan's research on electromagnetic guns may be to demonstrate its military strength to other countries, or to cooperate with the United States to obtain more technical and financial support. We should be vigilant about this and not be fooled by Japan's appearances.