The Navy’s new class of Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyers would make for a good candidate to deploy the electromagnetic railgun the service is developing to lessen dependence on traditional munitions, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said Wednesday.

The Zumwalts, which are the largest ships built to ever be called a destroyer, already have twice the power generation capacity than required to operate all of the systems going onto the class, meaning there would be plenty of room left to generate the pulse needed to fire the railgun, Greenert said.

A prototype railgun. Photo by Office of Naval Research.
A prototype railgun. Photo by Office of Naval Research.

The electromagnetic railgun is being developed by the Office of Naval Research with prime contractor BAE Systems, and is set to undergo at-sea testing on a Joint High Speed Vessel in fiscal 2016.

“Right now if I were to look ahead I would say the Zumwalt,” Greenert said when asked what type of ship would be ideal for deploying the railgun, during an address at the Naval Future Forces Science and Technology Expo in Washington.

The Office of Naval Research and American Society of Naval Engineers are hosting the two-day expo that began Wednesday.

The Navy envisions the railgun as an opportunity to increase ship fire support by launching a projectile at high speeds against surface threats. It has the benefit of requiring less space for the storage of larger, traditional munitions and leaves a ship less vulnerable to an enemy striking a munitions depot.

Railgun technology, like lasers, helps “get us off gunpowder,” Greenert said.

The railgun should be evolved to also take out air threats, and possibly ballistic missiles with improved accuracy, Greenert said, adding the current projected range of 100 miles should be doubled. He noted the projectiles fired by the railgun cost about $25,000 compared to the $1 million cost of a missile.

The first of three DDG-1000s is delivering to the Navy in 2016. They are being built by General Dynamics [GD] Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.