General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has finished testing railgun-launched guided hypersonic projectile interceptors.
The test involved a 32-megajoule railgun and a 120 mm powder gun firing identical projectiles to demonstrate their “guided flight capabilities” at “record hypersonic velocities.”
It tested whether the projectile’s “gun-hardened guidance electronics” could sustain data links and control trajectory while undergoing “intense G-forces at hypersonic speeds.”
GA-EMS president Scott Forney said, “We have completed our contract to fabricate, deliver, and test prototype projectiles in railgun and powder gun environments.”
Guided Hypersonic Air Defense
”We tested significant advancements in our projectile design, demonstrating survivability and good aerodynamic performance at these velocities while testing guidance capabilities that promise greater precision and accuracy to effectively meet and defeat airborne threats.”
The US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center awarded the company a hypersonic railgun projectile development modification contract last year.
Forney stated that a guided railgun projectile integrated into the air and missile defense command network would “enable precision engagement and intercept of airborne targets.”