Design Considerations for an Electromagnetic Railgun Firing Optimized Intelligent Bursts to Be Used Against an Anti-Ship Missile Using Operational Constraints

Electromagnetic railguns offer more modifiable firing conditions to a fire control system than conventional guns. The fire rates can be modified during a burst of multiple shots, attaining demonstrated fire rates of 80 Hz and higher. Besides the rate of fire (RoF), obtaining muzzle velocities up to 2400 m/s—about twice the current muzzle velocity of close in weapon systems (CIWSs)—are achievable. On a ship, a CIWS such as the goalkeeper serves as the last layer of defense, using a hard-kill approach against inbound anti-ship missiles (ASMs). Using a railgun as a CIWS comes with different challenges, such as energy consumption and energy availability. The use of an intelligent burst allows multiple simultaneous impacts on the target through varying the muzzle velocity, which further improves the efficiency of a railgun against these faster threats compared to conventional weapons. In a previous study, the RoF was kept fixed. In this study, the RoF is allowed to vary within the physical limitations of the railgun. For these simulations, only one projectile could be present in the barrel at any given moment. Using introduced physical constraints combined with exploring lower initial launch velocities allows for interesting results, which—combined with imposed safety and operational constraints—allow identifying optimal intelligent burst patterns for sea-skimming missiles. Varying the lowest muzzle velocity between 300 and 1800 m/s and the intercept range from 400 to 2000 m, with maximum dynamic fire rates ranging from 100 to 400 Hz. Projectile consumptions ranging from 11 to over 600 projectiles were observed. A total success rate of 95% was imposed for feasible firing solutions. Using the engagement time and charging time allows determining the maximal engagement rate per CIWS against inbound threats, which will allow determining the maximum number of threats the CIWS can deal with in a given time span.