British Royal Navy’s Second Sea Lord Visits NSWC Dahlgren Division

DAHLGREN, Va. – Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) Electromagnetic Railgun Program Director Chester Petry describes the hypervelocity projectile’s capability to UK Defense Attaché to the US, Maj. Gen. Richard Cripwell, left, and UK Royal Navy Second Sea Lord Vice Adm. Jonathan Woodcock, June 10. The second sea lord – responsible for the delivery of the British naval service’s current and future personnel, equipment and infrastructure – visited NSWCDD with his delegation for briefings on various technological programs, including the electromagnetic railgun – a long-range naval weapon that fires projectiles using electricity instead of traditional gun propellants such as explosive chemicals. The hypervelocity projectile is a next-generation, guided projectile capable of completing multiple missions for gun systems such as the Navy 5-Inch, 155-mm, and future railguns. Woodcock and his delegation also toured the Potomac River Test Range – 715 acres of land and a 169-square-nautical-mile water area that stretches along the lower 51 miles of the Potomac River. The British officials looked out over the Potomac and saw firsthand how Dahlgren’s gun test facility evolved and expanded to include numerous scientific and response-force missions serving all branches of the United States armed forces. (U.S. Navy Photo by Andy Revelos/Released)