The Japanese Ministry of Defense intends to begin large-scale development of electromagnetic guns capable of shooting down hypersonic missiles from fiscal year 2023. Their practical tests are expected to begin in about five years. . The state budget proposal for fiscal year 2023 plans to allocate 6.5 billion yen (over $ 56 million) for these purposes.
The action of the weapon is based on the use of technology, also referred to as the 'railgun'. It allows the projectile to be accelerated thanks to the electromagnetic field. At the first stage of firing, the projectile integrates with the electrical circuit, moving between two contact rails (hence the name of the installation). To fire, the gun needs a short-term supply of high voltage and current, which cannot be provided by a simple connection to the power grid.
The US Navy was actively developing rail guns, which, when tested, successfully shot down hypersonic targets. Preliminary research has already achieved a launch speed of over 2,000 m/s, which is said to be higher than current hypersonic missiles.
In 2005, development of a combat railgun for use by the US Navy by General Atomics and BAE Systems began. However, in the United States, these studies were abandoned. In 2017, the Pentagon, having spent more than $ 500 million on this project, decided to shut it down. The project was officially closed in June 2021, and the US Navy announced that funds from its budget would be used to develop hypersonic missiles and other advanced weapons.
Difficulties arose in creating particularly powerful but compact sources of electricity, which are necessary to equip ships with such guns. That is, the costs required were incomparable with the results obtained.
The $ 500 million project turned into a costly and unsuccessful advanced weapons development. The failure was so strong that there were statements like 'cannon railgun' this is an example of how innovation shouldn't appear. '
Research in this direction has been continued by Beijing. In February 2019, it was learned of the successful test of the railgun by the Chinese Army. A projectile from their electromagnetic cannon developed a speed of 2.5 km/s and hit the target at a distance of 200 km. Nothing is known about the further development of the project.
In spring 2021, the European Defense Agency announced the start of development of its own railgun.
Now it has become known that the Japanese military has decided to adopt the technology: the technology in this country is developed to a high level. Generally speaking, Japan has recently increased its defense spending, and in the field of weapons based on the use of new physical principles, it is trying to catch up with its neighbors.
Moreover, the Japanese themselves believe that their private companies are ahead of the United States in the development of such technologies. Japanese media did not provide any comparison with developments in other countries. Tokyo hopes to use them in the practical creation of low-cost electromagnetic weapons for naval forces.
However, the railgun is not very effective against hypersonic missiles and glider blocks capable of altering the flight path. The Japanese military does not yet even have theoretical developments that can be used to reliably intercept such systems. Japan is developing a rail gun system not to intercept missiles, but to prevent them from launching completely, the sources say. A defensive system using electromagnetic cannons will give the Japanese Army the ability to fight hypersonic weapons during the launch phase.
The budget for fiscal year 2022 provides for an endowment of 6.5 billion yen ($ 56 million or more 4 billion rubles) for the development of prototype gun equipment with rails for military use. The system is expected to be ready for actual use in the second half of this decade.
Most likely, the Japanese Defense Ministry & # 39; s Procurement, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) is investigating the technology basics underlying railguns.
Source: https://www.sankei.com/