Monday, November 25, 2013

General Atomics Marketing Blitzer Railgun for Land and Sea

General Atomics unveiled a land-based artillery version of its Blitzer electromagnetic railgun (EMRG) at the Association of the US Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, DC, with a company official telling IHS Jane's that with adequate funding the concept could be demosntrated in "two to three years".

In 2007, building upon knowledge gained under an Office of Naval Research (ONR) Innovative Naval Prototype contract, GA initiated development of the Blitzer system using internal funds.

Despite 2010 testing that included firing a projectile up to Mach 5 speeds the USN opted to develop a larger railgun. General Atomics is now marketing Blitzer as a near-term railgun solution and is pursuing possible land, ship, and submarine-based variants.

link.

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