Electromagnetic launcher with advanced rail and barrel design

摘要

A railgun apparatus for accelerating a projectile having a conductive region. The railgun comprises a power supply for providing a current impulse and at least two elongate generally parallel rails. The rails include a first layer comprising a highly conductive material and a second layer comprising a highly resistive layer. The second layer has a resistivity that varies along the length of the rails and is so sized and arranged as to contact the conductive region of the projectile. The power supply is switchably connected to the first layer of the rails. When the current impulse is applied to the rails with the projectile therebetween, the current impulse is spread over the conductive region of the projectile to reduce the velocity skin effect.