For a similar projectile, the range of railguns may exceed that of conventional guns.

While explosive-powered military guns cannot readily achieve a muzzle velocity of more than ≈2 km/s, railguns can readily exceed 3 km/s. APFSDS) rather than using conventional propellants. Īs of 2020, railguns have been researched as weapons utilizing electromagnetic forces to impart a very high kinetic energy to a projectile (e.g. It is based on principles similar to those of the homopolar motor. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors (rails), along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectile's high speed, mass, and kinetic energy to inflict damage. Test firing at the United States Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in January 2008 Ī railgun is a linear motor device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles.

Gauss gun half life