---
title: "Future Warfare: Meet The Electromagnetic Railgun"
description: "General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has successfully tested its electromagnetic railgun technology—a first step toward a new form of strategic ordnance."
date: "2016-05-13"
modified: "2016-05-13"
authors:
  - name: "Todd Jaquith"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/todd-jaquith"
url: "https://futurism.com/future-warfare-general-atomics-railgun-test-lead-truck-mounted-systems"
categories:
  - "Genetics"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "army"
  - "Blitzer"
  - "General Atomics"
  - "military technology"
  - "military weapons"
  - "railgun"
---

# Future Warfare: Meet The Electromagnetic Railgun

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/rail-gun_A.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: GA-EMS\</em\>*

If war is the continuation of politics by other means, General Atomics’ 3-megajoule [Blitzer electromagnetic railgun](<http://www.ga.com/railgun-systems>) is a serious new political instrument.

[The railgun](<https://futurism.com/us-navy-set-to-unveil-electromagnetic-weapon-technology>) is essentially an artillery piece that uses electromagnetic fields, rather than more conventional chemical propellants, to launch projectiles at hypersonic speeds far in excess of what typical ordnance can achieve.

https://youtu.be/M3C6lrTkBXU

At the U.S. Army’s annual Maneuver and Fires Integration Experiment (MFIX), the Blitzer railgun performed successfully during eleven test firings. The test projectiles contained a Guidance Electronics Unit (GEU), which beamed back telemetry indicating the shells achieved an acceleration of over 30,000 gravities, and that all components survived the multi-Tesla magnetic field that powers the launcher.

“We continue to perform risk reduction and technology maturation of projectile designs and components to culminate in an integrated demonstration of a maneuvering railgun launched projectile,” says Nick Bucci, vice president of Missile Defense and Space Systems at [General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems](<http://www.ga.com/ems>).

The next step is to integrate the system into a mobile, truck-based platform.

### Author social links  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010429595677>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-jaquith-b5aaa7127>)