The United States Navy has made enough progress on its futuristic electromagnetic railgun that it's now showing it off to the public. At this weekend's Future Force Science and Technology Expo the Navy showed off its incredible new cannon. The railgun may even soon be ready for deployment, Foxtrot Alpha reports.
Even though the EM Railgun looks massive to spectators, the truth is that it is finally in a size that will make it applicable to the Navy's inventory of surface combatants. With this in mind, the Railgun is set for sea trials aboard the Joint High-Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket in 2016, although this will not be a permanent installation. There is some serious talk about integrating the weapon onto the third DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer, DDG-1002 USS Lyndon B. Johnson.
Military observers and the Navy itself are excited about the possibilities the railgun opens up for future deployments.
The realization of the EM Railgun into a reliable and field-ready weapon system clearly has the Navy in a whirl, and rightfully so. This technology could revolutionize warfare, and to be perfectly honest, it marks the return of really big ass guns to US Navy surface combatants. Who knows, it could even lead to a new "Electric Battleship" capable of slinging high-volumes of guided shells hundreds of miles in rapid succession. The sky is truly the limit.
It appears that, at least for the Navy and its railgun, the future is close at hand.