By John Keller
DAHLGREN, Va., 8 May 2008. U.S. Navy officials are approaching industry for ideas on how to design an electromagnetic launcher able to propel a ship-based missile towards its target before the missile's engine ignites -- a process called 'cold missile launch.'
Navy electromagnetic railgun test
This electromagnetic missile launcher (EMML) would be able to propel missiles and other projectiles at low and high speeds. The Universal Electromagnetic Launcher project is the subject of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) issued May 7 (solicitation number N0017808Q3019).
Responses are due no later than July 31. Issuing the BAA are officials of the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Dalhgren, Va.
The research project calls for a highly efficient electromagnetic launcher (HEEL)-based electromagnetic missile launcher able to vault a missile up to a safe altitude before the thrust is imitated from the missile's propulsion system. Navy leaders are particularly interested in missiles the size of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) anti-ballistic missile system.
This launcher would be adapted to the Vertical Launch System (VLS) aboard the Navy's next-generation guided missile cruiser, known as CG(X). The demonstrator system should be able to propel missiles and other projectiles at speeds of at least three kilometers per second (6,710 miles per hour).
The demonstrator, which should be completed within the next two to four years, must include at least the launcher tube, launcher mount, energy storage, solid-state inverters, data acquisition, and software for motor control.
One advantage of cold missile launch, which an electromagnetic launcher would provide, is overall ship safety. Malfunctioning missiles would fall into the sea without risk of detonating while inside the launcher and putting the ship in jeopardy.
Navy officials at Dahlgren demonstrated an electromagnetic railgun for other kinds of shipboard projectiles last January (see video above).
An industry day on this project for briefings, questions, and answers will be at 10 a.m. 22 May eastern time at Northrop Grumman Corp. auditorium and conference room at 300 M St. SE, Suite 100, in Washington, D.C. to attend, contact Frank Mansfield by e-mail at [email protected].
For questions or for more information, phone the Navy's XDS13-10 at 540-653-7808, or 540-653-7765. Also contact the contracting office by post at Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command, NSWC Dahlgren Division, N00178 Naval Surface Warfare Center, Va., 17320.
More information is online at http://www.fbodaily.com/archive/2008/05-May/09-May-2008/FBO-01568745.htm
