[12/07/2023]

ISL's electromagnetic gun technology at the heart of the European THEMA project

The European Commission has just selected the research project THEMA (“Technology for ElectroMagnetic Artillery”) to be supported by the European Defence Fund (EDF). With a budget of 15 million euros, this project aims to increase the technological maturity of the three critical components of electromagnetic artillery: the electric power source, the electromagnetic railgun and the hyper-velocity projectile.

As the only research institute in Europe to master all the technologies relating to electromagnetic artillery, ISL brings to the THEMA project the extensive expertise it has acquired in the laboratory over the last three decades.

ISL electromagnetic railgun installations unique in Europe

ISL's electromagnetic railgun installations are unique in Europe. The Institute has several laboratory demonstrators, including the NGL-60 (“New Generation Launcher”), a 60 mm calibre launcher capable of firing projectiles in the kilogram range, and the RAFIRA (“RApid FIre RAilgun”), a 25 mm calibre launcher capable of firing salvos of small-calibre projectiles at extremely high rates of fire. The two launchers can reach muzzle velocities of between 2000 m/s and 3000 m/s.

XRAM energy source

The XRAM generator is an inductive pulsed power source invented by ISL. This technology is used to power electromagnetic railguns and is much more compact than capacitive sources.

Design and evaluation of new munitions

ISL has long-standing and widely recognised experience in the design and evaluation of innovative aerodynamic architectures. In addition to numerical design tools, ISL has a number of state-of-the-art experimental facilities, including a trisonic wind tunnel, a hypersonic shock tunnel and a firing range for free-flight testing.

Operational demonstrator as of 2028

The THEMA project is a continuation of the PILUM project, which was coordinated by ISL and launched in 2021 via the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR).

THEMA is a new step towards the implementation of an electromagnetic railgun demonstrator on a firing range from 2028. The demonstrator will be designed for anti-air defence of naval and land platforms, to protect forces against new threats such as hypervelocity missiles.