Japan signs agreement with Germany and France to develop Electromagnetic Railgun

Asia-Pacific, Europe, News June 5, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

Japan’s defense acquisition organization says it signed an agreement with authorities in France and Germany to explore collaboration on the railgun technology. A railgun is an electric-powered linear motor weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles.

The Acquisition Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) of Japan announced that the Terms of Reference (TOR) had been signed under the “Implementation Guidelines for Railgun Technology Cooperation” agreement between Japan, France, and Germany. The agreement between the three countries aims to explore opportunities for developing this advanced weapon system.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense has been making continuous efforts since 2016 toward the early deployment of railgun technology. Tokyo dedicated at least $56 million defense budget to the development of the weapon system in 2022 and aims to have the weapons deployed by the end of this decade.

Meanwhile, Germany and France are already collaborating with Belgium and Poland on the Projectiles for Increased Long-range Effects Using Electromagnetic (PILUM) railgun project with an approximate budget of $1.6 million. the prototype developed under the PILUM railgun project is capable of firing hypervelocity projectiles, up to 11,000 km/h, within more than 200 kilometers of range.

Japan, Germany, and France cooperate on railgun technologies — ^{Japan’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency team visited ISL railgun facilities as Japan, France, and Germany agreed to collaborate on railgun technologies. (Image Credit: ATLA/via Twitter)}

The PILUM project is led by the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL) while other defense firms from France, Germany, Poland, and Belgium are also participating in the project in various capacities.

In a statement released by Japan’s ATLA, it was confirmed that the signatories of the recent agreement are the French Ministry of Armed Forces, the German Ministry of Defense, as well as the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL).

The ATLA statement added that the agreement covers the possibility of collaboration on railgun technologies by facilitating information exchange and technical meetings among the four parties.

Earlier this year, Japanese defense officials visited the U.S. to seek possible collaboration with the U.S. Navy on their railgun project, however, no substantial progress was reported. The U.S. launched two railgun projects but aborted both due to financial feasibility concerns. The U.S. Navy, after spending some 15 years and $500 million developing a railgun for destroyers, gave up on the idea in 2021.

U.S. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group's railgun launcher — *^{Prototype of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group’s (GA-EMS) railgun launcher. (Image Credit: General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems)}*

BAE Systems, while under contract with the Office of Naval Research, achieved a 32-megajoule railgun in a laboratory setting that could have potentially reached distances of 220 miles at Mach 7.5, which is 10 times farther than a typical ship-mounted gun. The project was later abandoned due to the lack of funding.

Electromagnetic railgun

In its simplest form, a railgun can be termed a linear electric motor. Its basic configuration is made of a permanent magnet on the side. It uses electromagnetic force to fire high-velocity projectiles at up to Mach seven.

One of the most prominent advantages that a railgun has over a conventional weapon is that it launches projectiles in larger quantities toward targets in a shorter period as it does not require a conventional reloading mechanism. This significantly diminishes the chance of interception and increases the chances of hitting the target due to the larger frequency of projectiles.

However, the technology comes with its share of challenges, such as the need for greater operating power, as the gun requires a high current, (up to one million amperes) to operate, making the weapon susceptible to overheating.