Turkish Şahi-209 Is capable of Shooting 16mm Tungsten Alloy Arrow-Shaped Ammunition

Şahi-209 electromagnetic railgun with the ability to shoot 16mm special tungsten alloy arrow-shaped ammunition recently disclosed by Turkish company Yeteknoloji. Unlike the large-scale railguns developed by the US and Britain, it is currently one of the few electromagnetic railguns that can fire two rounds in a minute. The gun body owns a tilting mechanism, which can adjust the shooting angle according to needs.

The railgun uses the interaction’s ampere force between the orbital currents to launch the projectile. It consists of two parallel long straight guides with a small mass of sliders placed between the rails as projectiles. When powering on, a strong current flow from one rail, and when slider flows back from the other rail, a strong magnetic field is generated between planes of two rails. The slider passes current is under of amperage force’s action, and the projectile will be shot out at a high speed.

Electromagnetic railgun owns a variety of unique advantages, such as high initial velocity (usually above 6Mach) and long-range (usually more than 150km). The penetrating force of the projectile is very suitable. When firing, as an anti-armor weapon there is no fire medicine required, and it doesn’t produce smoke. The projectiles are small that can be stored in large quantities.

Despite the advantages, the railgun also facing many technical bottlenecks, such as rapid charging technology (which affects the firing rate) and miniaturization of energy storage equipment (which affects the platform). The railgun and the fast charging and energy storage device connected at the rear are smaller than the experimental railguns in the US and Britain, and the corresponding transmission power will be lower.

Firing shots interval of Şahi-209 is only 30 seconds apart. It can be seen that the rapid charging function of the railgun is greatly improved at the expense of a certain launch power, making it capable of bursting a certain practical ability.

According to public data, Şahi-209 railgun has a muzzle velocity of up to 6Mach and can launch a special tungsten alloy arrow-shaped ammunition with a diameter of 16mm, weighing 170 grams, compared with traditional shells, the size has been greatly reduced. It consists of only two parts: warhead and stabilizer. Although the railgun ammunition is only 16mm it can easily penetrate thick steel.

In addition to this newly developed railgun, Turkish Aselsan is also developing a more powerful TUFAN railgun, which was exhibited at the British Defence Exhibition. The gun has been integrated into a dedicated turret and its shape is better than Şahi-209. It can be carried on sea and land combat platforms according to operational needs.

Aselsan said that the Army has planned to apply an electromagnetic gun to the ground in anti-armor, maritime anti-ship, air defense, and anti-missile operations in the future. Turkish Şahi-209 with the ability to shoot 16mm tungsten alloy arrow-shaped ammunition easily penetrate levels of steel plate may a big step of Turkish military development.

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