Rail gun tipped to alter nation’s defense abilities

SPEEDY PAYLOAD: US military analyst Rick Fisher said that China would have to think ‘more than twice’ if its leaders were aware of the weapon’s capabilities

By William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON





New advances in the development of electromagnetic rail guns (ERG) could have a major impact on the defense of Taiwan, an expert in Asian military affairs said.

“[ERGs] could be ready by the early 2020s,” International Assessment and Strategy Center senior fellow Rick Fisher said.

US Navy officials revealed this week that they plan to test-fire a rail gun at sea for the first time in the summer of next year.

Engineers prepare to test an electromagnetic rail gun prototype at a facility in Dahlgren, Virginia, on Feb. 23, 2012. International Assessment and Strategy Center senior fellow Rick Fisher said rail guns could help reduce Taiwan’s defense costs. Photo: AP

The gun is to fire a series of hypervelocity projectiles fitted with GPS electronics at a barge floating in the ocean about 80km from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems program manager US Navy Captain Mike Ziv told a US Navy League symposium that the first firing was a “significant event” and a “key learning point.”

The symposium was told that rail guns could fire guided, high-speed projectiles more than 160km and could be a formidable defense against cruise and ballistic missiles.

“This one technology has the potential to reverse the ‘cost-benefit ratio’ on the Taiwan Strait and to extend real deterrence potential for another decade, while allowing Taipei to sustain a largely defensive military strategy,” Fisher told the Taipei Times.

He said that Taiwan was buying US$3 million missile interceptors to shoot down US$1 million Chinese short-range ballistic missiles.

Rail guns could be able to shoot down Chinese missiles and attack aircraft with projectiles at much less cost.

“It can perform missile defense, air defense and anti-invasion missions, and also attack most of the new long-range anti-aircraft missile systems China is basing near the Taiwan Strait to threaten Taiwan’s air force,” Fisher said.

He said: “If China’s leaders see they cannot overwhelm Taiwan with missile strikes, achieve air superiority and thus assure the security of its invasion fleet, they will probably think more than twice about attacking Taiwan.”

“These are the potential benefits for Taiwan of the rail gun,” he said.

Fisher added: “It is a strategic and moral necessity for Washington to be working with Taipei to enable the early transfer of rail gun technology.”

According to the Defense Tech Web site, the rail gun being developed by the US Navy uses electricity to create a magnetic field to propel a kinetic energy projectile at about 5,600 miles per hour (9,000kph).

It can accelerate a 45-pound (20kg) projectile from zero to 5,000 miles per hour (8,046kph) in less than a second, the Web site said.

The projectiles, able to travel at 2,000 meters per second, would cost less than US$100,000 each, while the gun would be able to fire them at a rate of about one every six seconds.