Energy Conversion Systems Lab

VT Electromagnetic RAILGUN


ECSL Logo
Virginia Tech's Energy Conversion Systems Laboratory (ECSL) has been working with the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren to design, construct and perform research on an electromagnetic launcher. This reduced scale railgun is now fully operational, features programmable acceleration and can serve as a testbed for new technologies for the Navy's full-scale railgun. The high voltage pulse forming network (PFN) is comprised of several custom-built pulsed-power modules and has an overall capacity of over 1,000,000A. Advanced safety features and sophisticated controls via optic fiber are made possible by several microprocessors. This program is a part of NAVSEA's Naval Engineering Education Consortium (NEEC) that aims to develop a future workforce for the navy through interdisciplinary university research.

About The Lab

Learn more about the Energy Conversion Systems Laboratory

In the News

Archive of news articles about the VT EM Railgun Program.

ITAR

Restrictions, rules and regulations.

Navy Railgun

Learn more about the Navy’s Full-Scale EM Railgun.


Meet The Team

Learn about the people involved with this program.

Sponsors

This project is only possible with the help of many sponsors.

Opportunities and Openings

Available GRA assistantship positions and other opportunities in ECSL.

Principles of Electromagnetic Launchers

What they do and how they work.


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