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Navy electromagnetic railguns subject of today's Director's Colloquium

Hans Mark, professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, will talk about electromagnetic railguns for use with naval applications at a Director's Colloquium at 1:10 this afternoon in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3.

The United States Navy recently put a program in place to develop the electromagnetic railguns. These weapons are not limited by the thermodynamic constraints imposed on the muzzle velocities of conventional guns. A projectile fired by an electromagnetic gun with a muzzle velocity of 2,500 meters/second can achieve a range of about 450 kilometers, or approximately 280 miles. Mark will discuss the current status of this program and its future prospects.

The colloquium is open to badge holders who are U.S. citizens.

For more information, see the July 1 Daily Newsbulletin.

For more information about the Director's Colloquium program, which is coordinated by STB, go to http://stb.lanl.gov/colloquium/ online.

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