Ship-mounted Railgun To Become A Reality For US Navy In 2025

Defence technology company Raytheon has just received an investment of $10 million to further it's research and development of the world's first railgun, bringing electromagnetic weaponry out of the pages of science fiction into the real world.

The investment is being used to create the network needed to maintain electromagnetic pulses to take these weapons off Naval warship decks and onto other combat vessels, bir or small.  This will require the ability to store huge amounts of energy in the smallest possible container, so it can be "used in a modular and versatile way for multiple platforms."

This will mean that a pulse of charge can be networked between a fleet of vehicles, meaning that even your run-of-the-mill small dinghie could fire off a 33-megajoule shot.  The Navy have also requested a firing rate of ten rounds per minute from General Atomics and BAE, all of which has been given a due date of 2025.  A date for all you fans of Metal Gear Solid and Tom Clancy novels to take note of.

Source: Raytheon