04.07.2025, 15:18
Und nochmals Japan bzw. eine Ergänzung zur April-Nachricht:
Schneemann
Zitat:Railgun Installed On Japanese Warship Seen In New Photoshttps://www.twz.com/sea/railgun-installe...new-photos
The turreted prototype installed on a testbed surface combatant is the latest step forward in Japan's work on railguns, something the U.S. Navy shelved years ago. [...]
New pictures have emerged showing work being done on the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ prototype electromagnetic railgun currently installed on the test warship JS Asuka. An at-sea test of the weapon in this configuration is expected to come before the end of the month, if it has not occurred already. Japan’s continued developments in this realm stand in notable contrast to the U.S. Navy’s shelving of its promising pursuit of this category of weapons in the early 2020s after major technical hurdles emerged.
The images of Asuka and its railgun in port in Yokosuka, seen at the top of this story and below, come from @HNlEHupY4Nr6hRM on X who originally posted online. All of the images were taken on June 30. Additional photos of the ship taken recently are also circulating online. Asuka, a 6,200-ton-displacement dedicated testbed with a warship-like design, first emerged with the turreted railgun on its stern flight deck in April. [...]
The pictures show the shroud around the railgun removed so that work can be performed on the weapon inside. This confirms that the railgun installed in the turret on Asuka is extremely similar, if not identical, to a prototype that the Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) has been testing on land and sea for a number of years now. TWZ had posited that this was likely the case based on what was visible in previous available imagery. How exactly the design may have evolved over the years is unclear.
Schneemann