US Navy Testing Electromagnetic Railgun Weapon, May Install on New Destroyer

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shows the future USS Rafael Peralta at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, on Oct. 21, 2015. Courtesy of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works via AP

BATH, Maine—Development of a futuristic weapon depicted in video games and science fiction is going well enough that a Navy admiral wants to skip an at-sea prototype in favor of installing an operational unit aboard a destroyer planned to go into service in 2018.

The Navy has been testing an electromagnetic railgun and could have an operational unit ready to go on one of the new Zumwalt-class destroyers under construction at Bath Iron Works.

Adm. Pete Fanta, the Navy’s director of surface warfare, has floated the idea of foregoing the current plan to put a prototype on another vessel this year and instead put it directly on future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, though no final decision has been made.

“The Zumwalt-class is one of a number of options being explored for the electromagnetic railgun,” said Lt. Cmdr. Hayley Sims, a Navy spokeswoman. “Due to the size, weight and power requirements, some platforms will be better suited for the technology than others.”

Railguns use electricity instead of gunpowder to accelerate a projectile at six or seven times the speed of sound.