Status of the 9 MJ Range Gun system

The 9 MJ Range Gun system under construction at the Center for Electromechanics at The University of Texas at Austin is designed as a self-contained, field portable electromagnetic launch system to accelerate a salvo of three projectiles to a muzzle energy of 9 MJ at velocities ranging from 2.5 to 4.0 km/s. The Range Gun system will consist of a self-excited air-core compulsator, a 90 mm bore railgun launcher, prime power and auxiliary systems, solid state switches for field rectification and gun discharge, and the controls and data acquisition required to operate the system. The compulsator is designed to deliver 3.2 MA current pulses to the railgun launcher at a peak power rating of 10 GW. This paper describes some of the innovations incorporated into the design of the 9 MJ Range Gun system compulsator and presents the status of the fabrication and testing efforts. Initial performance of the 90 mm railgun during testing at the Electric Armaments Research Center will also be presented.< >