Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) and British military
officials pause in front of the Potomac River Test Range metal map during the UK
delegation's tour June 10. Dahlgren scientists and engineers briefed the
delegation on the command's testing facilities and technologies ranging from the
electromagnetic railgun to the hypervelocity projectile.
Briefings on directed energy programs included a high energy laser
demonstration. "NSWCDD has a rich history of collaboration with the UK that
includes many topics from short term tasks all the way to a missile agreement
established in 1963 that we continue to support here today," said Jed Ryan,
NSWCDD International Partnering Office lead. "Working together with our allies
during the science and technology as well as the RDT&E (research,
development, test and evaluation) phases can lead to many benefits such as
program improvements, cost and time savings plus enhanced interoperability."
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.