Design of a self-excited, air-core compulsator for a skid-mounted repetitive fire 9 MJ railgun system

The design of a lightweight, compulsator-driven 9-MJ electromagnetic (EM) launcher has been completed and is in the fabrication phase. Scheduled for initial field testing in early 1989, the system will be capable of firing a salvo of nine rounds in three minutes at muzzle velocities between 2.5 and 4.0 km/s. Prime power for the compulsator is supplied by a 5000-hp gas turbine engine through a gearbox and clutch arrangement, and auxiliary power is provided by a small 750-hp turbine. Electrical power generation and pulse conditioning for the launcher are performed by the compulsator, which features a self-excited, air-core magnetic circuit and selectively passive armature compensation designed to minimize peak projectile acceleration. Peak power from the machine is 27 GW, and a total of 30 MJ is extracted from the rotor during each firing of the gun. System mass, including gun, compulsator, prime power, and auxiliary systems, is less than 22 tons and will be mounted on a 36-ton concrete slab which simulates the mass of an armored vehicle on which the system will eventually be integrated. >