China is developing a railgun for launching rockets

China is developing new types of missile weapons, including testing launches of ammunition with the help of electromagnetic guns (railguns), writes Kommersant.

An employee of one of the Chinese scientific research institutes Han Junli spoke about the new electromagnetic launch system.

Traditionally, rockets take off due to the combustion of fuel in their tail section. The scientist suggested using electromagnetic rails for launching, where the projectile would receive a huge initial acceleration. Such a combination of sources of acceleration, in his opinion, will allow to achieve a serious increase in the flight of the munition.

Junli came up with this idea early last year when he saw the “incident in the Tibetan plateau region” where the borders of China, India and Bhutan meet. The cause of the collision was China’s plans to build a road across the disputed territory, which Bhutan also claims to be. After analyzing the situation, the scientist realized that the territory of the plateau is too large to keep it under control using conventional rocket artillery.

The plateau occupies 26% of the territory of the People's Republic of China, and the use of an electromagnetic launch will allow you to keep at the sight all this territory from just a few points,

he said.

The scientist, together with his colleagues, has already collected the necessary information at a height of four kilometers in order to better adapt the ammunition to the rarefied atmosphere and extreme winter cold. Characteristics of the rocket, he did not reveal.

Recall that in the US, railguns have been developed since 1970. The US Navy, whose DDG-1000 Zumwalt ship is capable of carrying electrical power sufficient to power this weapons. The Chinese began to test their own electromagnetic gun in February of this year. It is installed on the landing ship Type 072III Haiyangshan.

Comments

[Dormidont]

It is tempting. Only the filling will be all in dust

[Horse, people and soul]

At this rate, the filling is not needed.

"Tunguska meteorite"...

[RASKAT]

Yes, not one rocket can not withstand such a sharp overload. Plus, how will the electronic filling of a rocket behave in such electromagnetic fields?

[Nick_R]

What kind of kindergarten? It’s clear that not a single stupid person would ever think of sticking a rocket between a rail and passing a current through it. In this case, the railgun essentially acts as an electromagnetic catapult, dispersing the rocket at the first stage.
Moreover, this technology can launch at least spacecraft. Can you imagine what prospects are opening up if, instead of the first stage, the rocket will be accelerated by electricity. The cost of launching will fall by an order. This is really a real prospect, not some reusable missiles.
And also the spiral project is recalled. . .there will be no jokes at all.

[Yrec]

Maybe it’s better in the old way: a slingshot and a million Chinese?

[Horse, people and soul]

If suddenly a million Chinese people forget to let the tires go and accidentally jump up, then there will be great surprise when a million Chinese people fall on someone’s head.

[ANCIENT]

Well, yes, rails for one launch at best, and for the price it will be more expensive than a conventional missile launch. Moreover, starting from rails is only possible directional, in the direction where the people go, which makes the whole system, and the launcher is primarily a magnificent and easy target. As if the Chinese offered a panacea! The whole world dreams of such weapons, but the high wear of the rails, or the trunk, the ocean of launch energy and the terrible high cost (now at the moment) of such a device so far does not give reason for optimism.

[hrych]

Well, guides, as if there should be a magnetic field and a projectile, can not touch the walls and rail, here's another thing that the system is so bulky and energy-intensive that it is possible only in the stationary version, in extreme cases, on a large ship. Therefore, the topic did not go further than experiments, which by the way were a hundred years old at lunch. However, our compact YaSU can allow us to make the unit into the dimensions of, say, a truck, as well as the ever-memorable Relight. With regards to the rocket engine, as it accelerates the projectile to the desired acceleration, it’s quite compact, quite simple and cheap, to fence a railgun instead of a solid-fuel accelerator is absolutely stupid.

[Vita vko]

Quote: hrych

With regards to the rocket engine, as it accelerates the projectile to the desired acceleration, it’s quite compact, simple enough and cheap

In any case, a rocket engine is many times more expensive than ordinary electricity, even if it is generated by a compact nuclear power plant. The main problem of modern railguns is the rapid wear of the barrel. But with a combined solution, there is no need to accelerate the rocket immediately to hypersonic speeds, it is enough to get the initial speed of just over 1000m / s. Firstly, it will not allow the enemy to record the fact of the launch of a rocket by flare radiation. Secondly, it will allow the use of more economical ramjet engines, including hypersonic ones.

Quote: hrych

the system is so cumbersome and energy-intensive that it is possible only in the stationary version, in extreme cases on a large ship.

The bulkiness of the system is determined by energy storage. Capacitor assemblies do indeed take up a lot of space, but this is not so critical and technology does not stand still. At the expense of energy intensity, this is a misconception due to the fact that many people confuse pulsed energy consumption during acceleration of a projectile with average consumption. Due to barrel heating, even with a cooling system, the railgun will not be able to have an automatic rate of fire.

[Nick_R]

The only competent comment. Bold plus.

[Gray brother]

A hat is, in my opinion, better to build an orbital elevator.

[Horse, people and soul]

The orbital elevator will solve many problems.

But for its construction will have to solve even more problems.

[Gray brother]

Quote: Horse, lyudovѣd and soulѣlyub

The orbital elevator will solve many problems.
But for its construction will have to solve even more problems.

"From a cannon to the moon" will not work all the more - theoretically it is possible to build a huge accelerator, but the problems, at the same time, will come out the same - the strength of materials.

[NG inform]

An orbital elevator is not needed. Through its cable lie the orbits of all the satellites of the earth. Those. any satellite in any orbit will, by definition, inevitably crash into it. Plus, there are still many non-obvious limitations beyond the obvious (how to actually make it).

[Horse, people and soul]

From the title of the article, I thought it was about "From a Cannon to the Moon".

[Bypassed]

At a very high velocity of the projectile and specially selected compositions of the material (well, such as depleted uranium, etc.), the projectile is not needed. Realization of the explosion effect of the "ionic lattice" due to the "run-out" of electrons in a collision with an obstacle and a sharp loss of speed.