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Railgun launcher team engineer, Daniel Wise, views the railgun muzzle after a shot.
Railgun launcher team engineer, Jim Poynor, holds a projectile in front of the railgun breech before loading.
Railgun expert - Dr. Grant Hainsworth (left), and NSWCDD railgun launcher team engineers Jim Poynor (center), and Ben McGlasson (foreground) inspect the railgun barrel with a video borescope.
NSWCDD Railgun launcher team engineers, Ben McGlasson (left) and Jim Poynor (right), examine the inside of the
railgun barrel with a video borescope.
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BY MICHAEL ZITZ
Reality has caught up to sci-fi fantasy at Dahlgren.
The similarity of the new Navy railgun to weapons in popular video games such as the "Quake" series has sent the testing laboratory in King George County from geek to chic at light speed.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Laboratory railgun works by sending electric current along parallel rails. It creates an electromagnetic force so powerful it can fire a metal-cased projectile at tremendous velocity.
The buzz about successful tests of the technology has spread among gamers as popular Web sites like Wired, Digg, Slashdot, Gizmodo, Wikipedia and Engadget have run with it. And the number of hits on a Free Lance-Star story on a recent railgun demonstration at Dahlgren is approaching 300,000.
Spotsylvania County native Cody Whitby, an 18-year-old Riverbend High School graduate and freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, provided insight into gamers' fascination with the Dahlgren railgun.
"Anyone who ever becomes slightly involved in a game obviously likes fantasy. And when fantasy becomes a reality, then it's a really amazing thing," he said.
Whitby put it in perspective for his parents' generation. "The 'Star Wars' nerd equivalent of this would be if the Army developed its own light saber."
SPARKING IMAGINATIONElizabeth D'Andrea, railgun project manager at the Office of Navy Research in Arlington, said it's possible the largely video-game related buzz about the real railgun might get more young people to study math and science and go into engineering.
Because the United States is lagging far behind other nations such as China in turning out engineers, the Navy has launched a campaign to increase student interest in math and science.
And that could be an unexpected byproduct of recent testing and demonstration of the railgun at Dahlgren.
Whitby is a devotee of the "Quake" video-game series now at the center of the fantasy railgun universe.
"To really understand the international nerd giddiness over [the Dahlgren railgun project] you would really need to understand what this gun means for us," he said. "In the 'Quake' series of games, this gun was mother of all guns for 'Quake' sharpshooters."
Whitby explained gamers' reaction to the news the Navy has developed a working version of the weapon expected to be deployed on ships between 2020 and 2025.
"It's hard not to be excited to see your favorite pixelated uranium-launching weapon brought to life," he said.
There's no uranium used in Dahlgren's real-life railgun. And the lab version is not as cool-looking as the ones portrayed in science-fiction films and video games. The real railgun being tested at Dahlgren resembles a huge box.
FUTURE IS NOWBut when it fires, there's an impressive electromagnetic muzzle flash and loud bang. And, even though it's homely, it has gamers and sci-fi fans excited.
"It really feels like this was our own creation--that somehow the millions of us in our parents' basement furiously clacking away at our keyboards and mice could lead to a revolution in weapons," Whitby said.
Wes James, a physics teacher at Washington and Lee High School in Montross, took his class to Dahlgren Tuesday for a guided tour of the railgun.
NSWC Dahlgren Division commander Capt. Joseph McGettigan greeted the class and told them he hoped they'd study math and science in college and become engineers--that they could then find themselves working on the railgun project.
Ryan Burch, a 17-year-old W&L physics student, said he first became familiar with railgun through video games like "Quake 3," and "Warhammer 40,000's" "Firewarrior" and "Dark Crusade."
"When I first heard about the railgun being built I didn't really believe it because it seemed like a far-off, futuristic invention," Burch said.
'MINI-DREAM COME TRUE'"Then to actually see a railgun in front of me and see some video of the thing shooting was a mini-dream come true," he said.
Another W&L physics student and video gamer, 18-year-old Danny Caylor, said: "The railgun was much more powerful than I expected. Learning how much power it used to fire a single shot, and the speeds and ranges that it can reach was very surprising. It's still hard to believe a weapon that relies solely on electricity can be so powerful."
INSPIRING ENGINEERS"Seeing this railgun and its capabilities," said W&L physics student, 17-year-old Patrick Keranen, was "the icing on the cake of my decision in majoring in engineering."
Burch said he already planned to study engineering at Virginia Tech, and, "Seeing the railgun and hearing about its future plans has made me consider mechanical and electrical engineering so I could possibly be involved with building other weapons I previously thought hundreds of years off in the future [that] might actually be only a decade or so off."
Caylor, who wants to study computer engineering in college, added, "I think I can honestly say that this was the only field trip I can remember not enjoying mainly because I got out of school for it."
Michael Zitz: 540/374-5408There�s a scene in the 1996 movie �Eraser� in which Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to protect then fictional railgun-type technology developed by the U.S. government from the bad guys. Biceps bulging, Arnold blasts away with not just one, but two prototype electromagnetic pulse weapons�one in each meaty hand.
Railguns fire projectiles at immense rates of speed using electromagnetic fields instead of gun powder.
Elizabeth D�Andrea, Office of Navy Research project manager for the Dahlgren railgun project, laughed when asked about fictional portrayals of handheld railguns.
She hasn�t seen any sci�fi or video game railguns that resemble the reality that�s taking shape at Dahlgren.
Sci�fi portrayals of railguns apparently go back at least as far as 1920s spaceman Buck Rogers.
D�Andrea said the Navy�s electromagnetic railgun will be �deep reach,� capable of hitting targets 200 miles away.
It�ll be a booming monster delivering a quick and devastating punch deep into enemy territory, not a shoulder-launched movie pop gun that merely makes for a cool zapping sound and a light show.
�Eraser� seems to have sparked the current railgun craze in the video game industry. An �Eraser� video game with railguns followed the film, and now there are dozens of video games, including the �Quake� series, as well as role playing games featuring the weapon.
But even Arnold would have a hard time lifting Dahlgren�s laboratory testing version of the railgun. It �s 30 feet long and weighs 56,000 pounds.
The tactical launcher, however, will be much different and far lighter, and one artist�s conception of what the weapon would look like deployed on a ship is reminiscent of railgun type weapons on science fiction space ships.
�Michael Zitz
Because the gun uses electricity, not gunpowder, to fire projectiles, the Navy expects its new railgun to be safer than conventional guns, reducing the danger of explosions on ships and in the logistics supply process.
Even though railgun discharge only lasts about 1/100th of a second, what about the massive electromagnetic field involved with the 64 megajoule railgun expected to be deployed on ships between 2020 and 2025? Is that safe?
Elizabeth D�Andrea, the Navy�s railgun program manager at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, said there�s �a very aggressive program� to keep tabs on electromagnetic field levels.
�Every time we shoot the gun we�re collecting EM field information,� she said.
�As we build up in power, we are going to continue to collect and analyze the data.�
D�Andrea said there are multiple sensors throughout the area to monitor any possible EM field expansion, including some along U.S. 301 near the railgun testing facility. She said those sensors have registered nothing in over 20 tests so far, and are not expected to indicate any problems but are established to ensure total safety.
�We�re casting a wide net to make sure we�re not putting anyone in harm�s way,� she said.
She said the Navy is always concerned about �the health and welfare of our sailors.� And, she said, �It�s not just humans� that would be affected if there were a problem. Such a powerful EM field could also play havoc with other mechanical systems on the decks of ships, she said.
And Jack Bernardes, Dahlgren�s pulse power expert said, that, due to the opposing current flow in the launcher, �the large generated magnetic fields add in the center of the launcher (behind the projectile) and cancel on the exterior of the launcher.� He said calculations and measurements to date, show that the EM-field environment is �within a reasonable distance of the launcher are below personnel exposure limits.� Bernardes said EM-fields will continue to be monitored throughout the development of the railgun, and, if required, shielding techniques can be applied to reduce fields to acceptable levels.
The electromagnetic railgun will be safer, Charles Garnett, who is heading up railgun testing at Dahlgren said, because �You don�t need to carry explosives.�
The lab version currently being tested at Dahlgren is an 8-megajoule electromagnetic device. But lab output will be ramped up to 32 megajoules by summer. And the one to be used on Navy ships will generate 64 megajoules.
Current Navy guns generate about 9 megajoules of muzzle energy. A mega joule is one million joules. Joules measure quantity of energy. An analogy for energy storage, according to Dahlgren�s Chester Petry, is �How much water is in the bucket. As the bucket get more full, �energy storage� increases.�
A watt is one joule for one second, with watts measureing the rate of flow, as with water flowing from a garden hose, Petry said.
�Michael Zitz
HOW THE NAVY'S RAILGUN WORKS
Railgun projectiles travel so fast they are expected to be capable of devastating buildings and penetrating bunkers without explosives. Instead of gunpowder, a powerful pulse generator is used to propel the projectiles.
The lab version being tested at Dahlgren is only an 8-megajoule electromagnetic device, but the one eventually to be used on Navy ships will generate 64 megajoules.
That’s about the amount of energy a typical American household uses in an entire day, engineers working on the project said.
The Navy weapon is eventually expected to be capable of firing 10 rounds a minute. Projectiles are likely to eventually have fins so the global positioning system can be used for guidance.
The concept of the railgun was born in the 1970s, then promoted two decades ago when President Ronald Reagan proposed the “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles.
Now the plan is for the technology to provide ground cover for Army troops and Marines, to take out anti-aircraft weapons and to increase precision in strikes to avoid collateral damage.
It will allow Navy ships to stay farther away from shore, decreasing the chances of being hit by enemy fire.
Immense projectile speed is expected to increase the lethality of impacts and allow projectiles to punch through bunkers and through many floors of a building.
The range for 5-inch guns now on Navy ships is under 15 miles. The railgun will extend that range to over 200 miles. Because munitions are to be fired at seven times the speed of sound, or Mach 7, and impact at Mach 5, they’re expected to reach targets in one-third the time it takes conventional munitions to do so.
Fired at a distant target, projectiles are traveling at such great velocity, they reach altitudes that cause them to leave the Earth’s atmosphere for up to five minutes.
One of the engineering problems to be overcome, according to Dahlgren’s Charles Garnett, is that re-entering the atmosphere at such speed, friction will cause the skin of the projectile to heat up to 1,000 degrees, and that could affect the guidance system.
The range and velocity are important to Army troops and Marines waiting for cover when every minute could make the difference between life and death.
—Michael Zitz
