<\/u>Turqu\u00eda anunci\u00f3 que se han desarrollado exitosamente los test para evaluar el prototipo de su Ca\u00f1\u00f3n Electromagn\u00e9tico (Railgun), denominado \u201cSapan\u201d. El proyectil disparado a una velocidad de 7.5 MACH, tendr\u00eda un alcance superior a los 100km. De \u00e9sta manera, Turqu\u00eda se incorpora al \u201cclub\u201d de los desarrolladores de estas revolucionarias armas, integrado por EUA, Rusia, China e India.<\/p>\n
Turkey announced a successful\u00a0test<\/span>\u00a0of its new electromagnetic weapon \u2013 referred to as ‘railgun’ \u2013 which shoots metallic projectiles at hypersonic speeds.<\/p>\n Turkey is the fifth country in the world to develop the weapon, after Russia, the US,\u00a0China\u00a0and India.<\/p>\n The weapon has been named “T\u00fcbitak Sapan,” or “T\u00fcbitak Slingshot,” after Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council (T\u00fcbitak). Weapons similar to Sapan are\u00a0capable<\/span>\u00a0of firing a projectile as far as 100 km, at speeds of up to 3,500 meters per second (12,600 km\/h).<\/p>\n According to the Turkish\u00a0Armed Forces<\/span>, the Sapan has been tested at 9,300 km\/h, faster than Mach 7.5.\u00a0Ankara\u00a0intends to boost the velocity of the round to Mach 8.5 (10.500 km\/h), making it almost impossible for a target to defend itself,\u00a0Business<\/span>\u00a0Times reports.<\/p>\n Railgun technology has certain upsides; the hypervelocity round is very difficult to intercept, and, since it has no electronics inside, it is immune to jamming and electronic warfare. In one live fire tests, a railgun successfully pierced a one meter-thick reinforced concrete\u00a0bunker<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u200bThe primary downside of the weapon is its extremely high energy consumption. In order to fire at 10 rounds per minute (one shot every six seconds), a railgun requires some 20 megawatts of energy, the output of a power plant used to light and heat some 250 small homes.<\/p>\n First tested in 2014, Turkey’s Sapan is a byproduct of T\u00fcbitak’s research into inertial\u00a0confinement<\/span>\u00a0fusion technology, also known as controllable thermonuclear energy,\u00a0Business\u00a0Times reports.<\/p>\n \u200bTurkey reportedly plans to\u00a0build<\/span>\u00a0eight TF-2000 class frigates, equipping them with full-scale combat-ready versions of the Sapan railgun, according to the newspaper.<\/p>\n Only five countries have working railgun technology: Russia, the US,\u00a0China, India and Turkey. While the US considers railgun to primarily be a weapon, Russian scientists have more recently examined peaceful\u00a0applications<\/span>, such as delivering\u00a0cargo<\/span>\u00a0into space, according to 2017 Zvezda report.<\/p>\n