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Widow · 04-24-2020, 11:24 AM,

LCKT - General working principles, prepared by Charlotte Frank

The "Harpoon" prototype uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles rather than the typical process of isomeric transition resulting in gamma emission from any excited nuclear state used in gamma/photon weaponry, or high powered lasers. The projectile may or may not contain explosives. This model, in particular, has been designed to fire 240mm explosive projectiles. Additional studies show it is possible to solely rely on the projectile's high speed and kinetic energy to inflict damage to the enemy target, although this is not as effective. The prototype is a relatively simple construction based on its predecessor, the Lewis-Class kinetic turret (LCKT). It has been found that it is both possible and practical to utilise electromagnetic forces to impart a very high kinetic energy to a projectile rather than using conventional propellants, especially while in the vacuum of space. Initial versions of this prototype used a pair of parallel conductors, along which an armature was accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flowed down one of the conductors, into the armature and then back along the other conductor, this was found to be a catastrophic failure and alternative methods were investigated.

Engineers instead opted for a safer alternative projectile accelerator system. This system uses a direct adaptation of linear electric motors to accelerate the projectile to high speeds. The linear electric motors that operate through the reaction between stationary coils and a coaxial armature are essentially coil guns that magnetically accelerate the projectile; This design can readily exceed a speed of 900m/s and a distance of up to 4500m before its efficiency is greatly reduced, for the first successful model of its type these statistics are considered to be a huge achievement. This design also allows for increased operating safety controls for the speed and acceleration of the projectile. This is usually not altered once it has been calibrated and set, this ensures the magnetic flux density in the magnetic circuit of this prototype is always under the allowed limits for safety reasons.

Initial testing of the prototype was problematic. Initial results showed the projectile was often unable to penetrate the shield of the enemy target. To allow for the projectile to pass through the shield, a low-inductance capacitor bank discharged into a single-loop antenna, a microwave generator, and an explosively pumped flux compression generator has been included into each projectile as a fix to this problem; However, this means the process of activation of the projectile itself is a series of complicated events that must occur within milliseconds to ensure successful penetration of the shield and detonation. After the firing process has occurred and upon reaching the enemy target, a switch is automatically activated which connects the capacitors to the stator, sending an electrical current through the wires. This generates an intense magnetic field. From this point, a fuse mechanism ignites the pre-detonation explosive material in the projectile. The primary explosion travels as a wave through the middle of the armature cylinder. As the primary explosion makes its way through the cylinder, the cylinder comes in contact with the stator winding. This creates a short circuit, cutting the stator off from its power supply. The moving short circuit compresses the magnetic field, generating an intense electromagnetic burst. At this point, the secondary explosives in the projectile will detonate and damage anything behind the now disrupted shield. Failure or early detonation of any part of this system will cause the failure of any or all parts of the process rendering the projectile useless.

The destructive force of a projectile depends not only on the size of the explosive force but the kinetic energy at the point of impact and due to the potentially high velocity of the launched projectile, their destructive force may be much greater than conventionally launched nuclear warheads without the impending fallout. The absence of nuclear warheads to store and handle, as well as the low cost of the projectiles, used compared to conventional weaponry, come as additional advantages to the design of this prototype. A disadvantage is the storage techniques required to safely store the explosive projectiles, as well as the cumbersome ‘reload’ method which will result in this being a considerably slower firing weapon compared to the gamma/photon/laser counterparts. It is essential to be aware that this prototype is unable to sustain heat damage, and fares poorly against physical damage. Physical damage causing a short in the system may result in overheating resulting in complete catastrophic failure of the prototype.

While it is essential to note that the LCKT had a number of concerns surrounding the novelty of the turrets, their bulkiness, as well as the high energy demand and complexity of the power supplies required to utilise these; many of these have been resolved in the design of this prototype. The power plants utilised by today's vessels have evolved considerably since the LCKT was last used by military forces, and it is now possible to power the weapons without diverting all power from the ships' essential components such as life support and navigational systems.

Sincerely,
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