U.S. Navy projects to build a variety of surface warships are on track, despite several different cutbacks, which is good news for suppliers and integrators of shipboard electronics who are looking forward to a wealth of new projects, electronic systems upgrades, and technology insertion.
Two EMC-related projects include electronic modular enclosures (EME) for communications equipment and a prototype rail gun. In May of last year, Raytheon delivered the first DDG-1000 EME, which provides shock mitigation, protection from electromagnetic interference and temperature, and vibration protection for ruggedized and commercially developed communications equipment. Each ship will get 16 EMEs, which will accommodate 235 individual electronics cabinets, Raytheon says.In an important technology breakthrough, the Office of Naval Research’s Electromagnetic Rail Gun program test-fired a prototype rail gun in December at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va. The shot was fired at a velocity of 33 megajoules (ONR says that a megajoule is represented by a one-ton vehicle moving at a speed of 100 miles per hour). In a 2008 test, the railgun achieved 10 megajoules, and ONR hopes to reach 64 megajoules.The extreme velocity generated by the rail gun eliminates the need for an explosive projectile. The rail gun research, while still more than 10 years from fleet delivery, offers the potential for an electromagnetic weapon to fire kinetic rounds as far as 200 nautical miles, ONR says. Read about other Navy projects from Military & Aerospace Electronics. See a video of the Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun firing a world-record setting 33 megajoule shot, breaking the previous record established January, 31, 2008.
Good News from U.S. Navy for Shipboard Electronics Integrators
