https://xcancel.com/NewRulesGeo?t=6cJ2ZyQr-1f_lBvKPNggKw&s=09
Why the US Navy Is Revisiting Railguns Tests US air defenses are struggling to intercept Iranian hypersonic missiles and drones, making the campaign financially unsustainable for the US. A railgun fires projectiles using electromagnetic force rather than gunpowder. Powerful electric currents run through two metal rails, generating a magnetic field that accelerates a metal projectile to extremely high speeds (over Mach 6). The projectile carries no explosives and destroys targets through sheer kinetic energy. The Navy conducted a three-day live-fire campaign at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in February 2025 — the first publicly known testing activity since the service effectively shelved the program in 2021 after technical setbacks, The War Zone reports. Interest in the technology has revived after the #Iran conflict exposed weaknesses in Western missile-defense networks. Iranian strikes reportedly damaged early-warning radars linked to THAAD batteries, degrading detection and targeting across parts of the region. The cost imbalance is stark. Iranian Shahed drones are estimated to cost around $35,000 each. By contrast, a Patriot PAC-3 interceptor costs roughly $3 million, while a THAAD interceptor can reach $15 million. Railguns are being reconsidered largely because of this cost-exchange problem. Hypervelocity projectiles derived from the program were estimated at roughly $85,000 per round, far cheaper than missile interceptors and potentially capable of countering large #drone and missile salvos. Major technical challenges remain, including power demands, cooling and barrel wear. Yet the limits exposed in the US-Israel-Iran war may be even greater in the Pacific. #China fields the world’s largest sub-strategic missile arsenal, while North #Korea continues to expand its nuclear delivery systems. As missile arsenals grow and interception costs soar, air defenses must now stop missiles at a scale and cost sustainable in war.