Nowadays, electromagnetic technology is opening a new power era, high-temperature superconducting magnetic levitation technology has become more and more mature, in the near future, human beings will enter the era of magnetic levitation in transportation; but electromagnetic technology will not only be used in magnetic levitation transportation, it will have innovative applications in many fields.
As we all know, the latest aircraft carriers of the United States and China use electromagnetic catapult technology, that is, to push the carrier-based fighter from a standstill to a speed that can take off in a short distance (generally within 100 meters), which is more cost-effective than skid jump take-off and steam catapult.
But in the military, the more powerful use of electromagnetic technology should be the electromagnetic gun. Electromagnetic guns are the use of strong current in the coil of the electromagnetic force generated in the coil to push the projectile to a speed of more than a kilometer per second on a short distance (a few meters), but usually the speed of electromagnetic shells is faster than ordinary shells, so the electromagnetic gun is also considered to be an alternative weapon to the traditional artillery, and in the future, it can even make the artillery and battleships equipped with electromagnetic guns become the main weapons again.
Electromagnetic catapult technology is also considered to have important applications in the field of aerospace in the future, such as electromagnetic catapult rocket launch, that is, the rocket and spacecraft use electromagnetic catapult to accelerate to a certain speed, fly to a certain height and then open the rocket engine to continue to push, you can launch the spacecraft into outer space, so that the launch of spacecraft will be able to greatly save fuel, and save launch time and resources, is considered to be one of the best ways to launch space in the future.
However, before this electromagnetic ejection plus rocket boost technology is applied to space launches, it is likely to be applied to the military first.
In terms of electromagnetic ejection technology, the United States has long carried out advanced research, electromagnetic guns and electromagnetic catapult technology have been quite mature, but China is not backward, two or three years ago the use of electromagnetic auxiliary launch technology weapons have been under development. Recently, it has been reported that Academician Ma Weiming, an expert in electromagnetic catapult technology, said that a certain research institute of china's army stationed in Beijing and Hubei Jiangshan Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. are jointly developing the world's first "electromagnetic booster catapult long-range rocket artillery system."
The system uses electromagnetic boost combined with the launch technology of the extended range rocket, the PHL-191 rocket launched by the large-caliber rocket that weighs hundreds of kilograms can be ejected out of the directional tube at a speed of 80 to 100 meters / s, the mass of gunpowder consumed in the take-off flight stage can be reduced by 20% to 30%, the flight speed is also faster, and the range will also be greatly increased, Academician Ma said that if equipped with new ammunition, the range of the rocket projectile assisted by electromagnetic catapult can reach 2000 kilometers, which is more than 6 times the original range. It is 500 kilometers farther than the range of the famous hypersonic missile Dongfeng 17, placed on the eastern coast or northeast region of our country, and the range can cover the Japanese archipelago, including Tokyo, Japan, and placed in the Himalayas, and most large cities in South Asia will be within range. If this rocket cannon can be installed on the ship, it will become a feared existence even for aircraft carriers.
In fact, not only the army rocket artillery can carry out electromagnetic technology improvement, it is rumored that the navy is also developing a vertical launch system for shipborne missiles that can be electromagnetic ejection, and electromagnetic catapult can greatly improve the rate of fire and range of various types of missiles launched vertically, greatly increasing the power of missiles, so with the continuous progress and practical application of China's electromagnetic technology, the combat effectiveness of land, sea and air weapons and equipment will be upgraded to a new level.
This technology will be further developed and will also be used in the aerospace field, such as electromagnetic catapult technology applied to aircraft carriers, if further large-scaled, civil aviation passenger aircraft and cargo aircraft can also be catapulted to save aviation fuel.
It is also possible to use electromagnetic catapult plus rocket range increase technology to launch spacecraft as mentioned above, and use electromagnetic catapult instead of the booster effect of the first stage rocket, which can greatly reduce the weight of the rocket and the fuel required under the same launch quality.
Resources:
"Science and Technology Daily" October 31 article "Academician Ma Weiming on building an electromagnetic booster catapult long-range rocket artillery system"