{"id":1076,"date":"2016-06-01T13:27:08","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T16:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nachodelatorre.com.ar\/mosconi\/?p=1076"},"modified":"2016-06-01T13:27:08","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T16:27:08","slug":"el-canon-electromagnetico-de-la-us-navy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/?p=1076","title":{"rendered":"El ca\u00f1on electromagn\u00e9tico de la US Navy"},"content":{"rendered":"

La Marina est\u00e1 desarrollando el ca\u00f1\u00f3n electromagn\u00e9tico \u00a0 como arma ofensiva para las naves enemigas, los blindados y \u00a0fortificaciones. Este sistema de armas tiene la atenci\u00f3n de los altos funcionarios del Pent\u00e1gono, que se interesan en su potencial para defensa a\u00e9rea en forma mas \u00a0eficiente \u00a0que los \u00a0sistemas \u00a0actuales, se piensa que podr\u00e1 estar disponible en una d\u00e9cada . El reto futuro para las FFAA \u00a0EE.UU., en t\u00e9rminos generales, es el mantenimiento de la superioridad t\u00e9cnica en relaci\u00f3n \u00a0a \u00a0 la disminuci\u00f3n del n\u00famero de buques \u00a0y unidades de las fuerzas terrestres. Los gastos crecientes y presupuestos fijos hacen que sea m\u00e1s dif\u00edcil mantener grandes fuerzas en los lugares adecuados para disuadir la agresi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

DAHLGREN, Va.\u2014A warning siren bellowed through the concrete bunker of a top-secret Naval facility where U.S. military engineers prepared to demonstrate a weapon for which there is little defense.<\/p>\n

Officials huddled at a video screen for a first look at a deadly new supergun that can fire a 25-pound projectile through seven steel plates and leave a 5-inch hole.<\/p>\n

The weapon is called a railgun and requires neither gunpowder nor explosive. It is powered by electromagnetic rails that accelerate a hardened projectile to staggering velocity\u2014a battlefield meteorite with the power to one day transform military strategy, say supporters, and keep the U.S. ahead of advancing Russian and Chinese weaponry.<\/p>\n

In conventional guns, a bullet begins losing acceleration moments after the gunpowder ignites. The railgun projectile gains more speed as it travels the length of a 32-foot barrel, exiting the muzzle at 4,500 miles an hour, or more than a mile a second.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to change the way we fight,\u201d said U.S. Navy Adm. Mat Winter, the head of the Office of Naval Research.<\/p>\n

The Navy developed the railgun as a potent offensive weapon to blow holes in enemy ships, destroy tanks and level terrorist camps. The weapon system has the attention of top Pentagon officials also interested in its potential to knock enemy missiles out of the sky more inexpensively and in greater numbers than current missile-defense systems\u2014perhaps within a decade.<\/p>\n

The future challenge for the U.S. military, in broad terms, is maintaining a global reach with declining numbers of Navy ships and land forces. Growing expenses and fixed budgets make it more difficult to maintain large forces in the right places to deter aggression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t conceive of a future where we would replicate Cold War forces in Europe,\u201d said Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, one of the weapon\u2019s chief boosters. \u201cBut I could conceive of a set of\u00a0railguns\u00a0that would be inexpensive but would have enormous deterrent value. They would have value against airplanes, missiles, tanks, almost anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the test bunker at Dahlgren, military officials turned to the video monitor showing the rectangular railgun barrel. Engineer Tom Boucher, program manager for the railgun in the Office of Naval Research, explained: \u201cWe are watching the system charge. We are taking power from the grid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wires splay out the back of the railgun, which requires a power plant that generates 25 megawatts\u2014enough electricity to power 18,750 homes.<\/p>\n

The siren blared again, and the weapon fired. The video replay was slowed so officials could see aluminum shavings ignite in a fireball and the projectile emerge from its protective shell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis,\u201d Mr. Boucher said, \u201cis a thing of beauty going off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The railgun faces many technical barriers before it is battle ready. Policy makers also must weigh geopolitical questions. China and Russia see the\u00a0railgun\u00a0and other advances in U.S. missile defense as upending the world\u2019s balance of power because it negates their own missile arsenals.<\/p>\n

The railgun\u2019s prospective military advantage has made the developing technology a priority of hackers in China and Russia, officials said.<\/p>\n

Chinese hackers in particular have tried to penetrate the computer systems of the Pentagon and its defense contractors to probe railgun secrets, U.S. defense officials said. Pentagon officials declined to discuss the matter further.<\/p>\n

The Navy began working on the\u00a0railgun\u00a0a decade ago and has spent more than half a billion dollars. The Pentagon\u2019s Strategic Capabilities office is investing another $800 million\u2014the largest share for any project\u2014to develop the weapon\u2019s defensive ability, as well as to adapt existing guns to fire the railgun\u2019s high-tech projectiles.<\/p>\n

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Railgun Components<\/h3>\n
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Power<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A 25 megawatt power plant and large capacitor bank are required to provide enough pulse power to fire the weapon 10 times a minute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Electromagnetic railgun<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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32 feet<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Projectile<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A non-explosive bullet filled with tungsten pellets; weight: approx. 25 pounds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Shoe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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An aluminum jacket that supports the bullet in the gun barrel; also provides a bridge for the current between the rails.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Approx. 24 inches<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: Office of Naval Research<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Some officials expressed concern the technology has commanded too large a portion of resources and focus. \u201cThis better work,\u201d one defense official said.<\/p>\n

The age of the gun faded after World War II, hampered by the limited range and accuracy of gunpowder weapons. Missiles and jet fighters dominated the Cold War years, prompting the Navy to retire its big-gun battleships. The railgun\u2014and its newly developed projectiles\u2014could launch a new generation of the vessels.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the reason we moved away from big guns is the chemistry and the physics of getting the range,\u201d said Jerry DeMuro, the chief executive of BAE Systems, a railgun developer. \u201cThe\u00a0railgun\u00a0can create the kind of massive effect you want without chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Navy\u2019s current 6-inch guns have a range of 15 miles. The 16-inch guns of mothballed World War II-era battleships could fire a distance of 24 miles and penetrate 30 feet of concrete. In contrast, the railgun has a range of 125 miles, officials said, and five times the impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you have a projectile screaming in at extremely high speeds\u2014kilometers per second\u2014the sheer kinetic energy of that projectile is awesome,\u201d Mr. Work said. \u201cThere are not a lot of things that can stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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