Electromagnetic Rail Guns & Aircraft Launching System developments in India : News & Updates

Gautam said:
DRDO's 10MJ Railgun:

Caliber: 45mm
Max. Range: ~100km
Projectile Weight: ~1kg
Muzzle Velocity: >2000m/s
KE of projectile at the muzzle: ~2,000,000 Joules or 2 MJ

The current railgun's energy levels are similar to the Navy's 76mm SRGM.
Click to expand...
Model of the 10MJ railgun:
GjvJZKga8AADyaI.jpeg
GjvJZKhacAIEMzp.jpeg
1739605424486.png
The current gun also has an ammo feeding mechanism similar to that we see on towed artillery systems. The gun consumes 1.2 MWe power to fire up to 3 projectiles weighing 1 kg at Mach 7-8.

As expected, the projectile is a sabot type projectile:
1739605459773.png

Can't wait for them to unveil this:
1739605997364.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: aditya g, marich01 and Chain Smoker
It is probably not economically viable at this stage to be used in some product form, say like some naval gun ?
 
Rail guns offer a tantalising potential, however considerable improvement is available in conventional naval arty through special rounds and larger bores
 
If a 2-3kg projectile is somehow packed with some impact fuze or even a dumb one the kinetic impact on a ship would be quite significant compared to AK-630 ?
 
marich01 said:
If a 2-3kg projectile is somehow packed with some impact fuze or even a dumb one the kinetic impact on a ship would be quite significant compared to AK-630 ?
Click to expand...

The KE output at muzzle of the 10 MJ railgun is ~2 MJ. If you increase the weight of the projectile, muzzle velocity will reduce, but the KE will remain the same. As for the 630, let's see:

AK-630:

Caliber: 30x165mm
Max. Range: ~5km
Projectile Weight: 0.39kg
Muzzle Velocity: ~900m/s
KE of projectile at the muzzle: 157, 950 Joules or ~0.16 MJ

The 10 MJ gun has significantly higher KE than the 630. It will inflict more damage per shell. Of course, AK630's rate is significantly higher. The upcoming 100 MJ railgun will have a KE at muzzle of ~36 MJ. Comparing this with the Otobreda 127/64 naval gun:

Otobreda 127/64 naval gun:

Caliber: 127x835mm
Max. Range: ~120km
Projectile Weight: 31kg
Muzzle Velocity: ~808m/s
KE of projectile at the muzzle: 10, 119, 392 Joules or ~10.12 MJ
 
  • Like
Reactions: marich01
  • Like
Reactions: Gautam and Chain Smoker
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom