Deploying an operational railgun on DDG 1002 would be a coup though skipping the planned JHSV test to save time does come with the risk of a high-profile snafu. It doesn't seem that any of the near-peer rivals have anything similar going on so the USN is poised to leapfrog the competition once the engineering is sorted out.
Navy's Rail Gun Still Headed to Sea, but on Which Ship?
WASHINGTON — One of the prime attributes of the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers is the design’s 78-megawatt integrated power system, able to switch electrical power between propulsion, sensor and weapon systems. It’s long been touted as the best platform to field new energy-gobbling weapons like rail guns and lasers.
A year ago, however, it appeared the first ship that might carry a rail gun to sea might be a joint high speed vessel (JHSV) fitted with a temporary installation. Briefers at naval exhibitions spoke publicly of the plans, and at least one model of the proposed demonstration was on display.
Plans for the at-sea demonstration remain in place, officials said, but it’s looking more likely that a test using an expeditionary fast transport (EPF) — the new designation for JHSVs — won’t take place at least until 2017, if at all.
“What I’m finding is if I go ahead with the demo it will slow my development,” Rear Adm. Pete Fanta, director of surface warfare, said during a Dec. 30 interview at the Pentagon. “I would rather get an operational unit out there faster than do a demonstration that just does a demonstration.
“It’s not definitely off but it’s not definitely going ahead,” Fanta said, “primarily because it will slow the engineering work that I have to do to get that power transference that I need to get multiple repeatable shots that I can now install in a ship. And I would frankly rather have an operational unit faster than have to take the nine months to a year it will take to set up the demo and install the systems, take the one operational [rail gun] unit I have, put it on a ship, take it to sea, do a dozen shots, turn around, take it off, reinstall it into a test bed.”
Officially, the JHSV/EPF demonstration is still on the books...
But Fanta is focused not on the demonstration, but on driving to an operational system.
“There are two technologies coming out of the rail gun program that both show very high promise,” he said. “One is the rail gun itself, and two is the projectile we need to shoot out of that rail gun, a hypervelocity projectile. Something that goes at high speeds that comes out of that barrel and is able to hit a spot multiple dozens of miles away.”..“Would I like it on DDG 1002? Yes. That would be my goal,” Fanta said, noting he has looked at installing an operational rail gun just before the ship “gets ready to go to its first deployment. I need to be able to have a power generation, a power transference and the barrel round integration to work for that level of integration to get out there.”
But, he cautioned, “I don’t know if I can get there from the engineering status yet. But that’s what we continue to look at.”
Fanta was adamant that an operational rail gun is fast approaching. When asked if he could field an operational unit in five years, he was adamant.
“Yes,” he said, then repeated it.
