So much for all that superhyped testing. The formidable railgun, which could have changed the notion and purpose of artillery had it entered service with the US Navy, has gone down the route of the Comanche stealth attack helicopter, the Crusader program, the OICW, and the vaunted F22, which at least had the benefit of a hundred or so orders from the Air Force.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is responsible for the cancellation. After approving a defense budget a few hundred billion shy of a trillion, the expected funds for the railgun and its sister project the ship burning laser was excluded.
The Navy had pretty high hopes for the railgun. If it ever entered service it was expected to be used as a bombardment weapon and a deterrent for ship targeting missiles akin to the Phalanx gun, only much more powerful.
Oh well, if the U.S. won’t use a railgun maybe the Chinese, the Iranians, the North Koreans, the South Koreans, the Russians, the Saudis, Israel, India, Australia, Germany, or a dozen other interested countries might continue where Uncle Sam left off.
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