Franco-German ISL institute reported first outdoor firing from its railgun at new testing range. Before this, ISL conducted rail gun tests only on short laboratory benches where gun operation and initial projectile speed could be assessed.
New range for first time enables observing complete projectile flight after leaving barrel, assessing its stability, aerodynamics, speed loss and accuracy.
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This is precisely why this first shot at new outdoor range indicates institute’s transition from laboratory experiments to full-scale field testing.
Project final goal is creating electromagnetic rail artillery gun capable of launching projectiles over 200 km at speeds over 2,000 m/s.
This railgun is also considered as basis for advanced naval gun and future air defense system capable of countering hypersonic threats.
ISL did not announce first shot characteristics. This testing goal was verifying new testing complex operability, not demonstrating record characteristics. Therefore, railgun shot characteristics will likely only be known after subsequent testing.
Worth noting that rail gun from which shot was fired during recent testing is only experimental sample for technology development, not ready future system prototype.
In subsequent testing, ISL will increase shot power, fire at greater distances, verify accuracy, develop new hypersonic projectiles and collect data regarding their air behavior.
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