Overview
- A Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme year-in-review notes a three-day live-fire campaign in February 2025 at White Sands Missile Range to collect data on high-velocity firing.
- The tests were executed by the White Sands Detachment with NSWC Dahlgren and were conducted for NAVSEA’s Joint Hypersonics Transition Office.
- The Navy had said in 2021 it would close out railgun work and store remaining hardware, yet the prototype—developed by BAE Systems and moved from Dahlgren to White Sands in 2019—remains in use for testing.
- Officials have not clarified whether the firing supported renewed weapon development or hypersonics test infrastructure, and no operational timeline has been announced.
- Persistent hurdles include rapid rail and barrel wear and large power and cooling demands, while foreign programs—especially Japan’s ship-mounted trials—underscore ongoing international progress; proposed U.S. large combatant concepts have discussed railguns, though integration plans are unconfirmed.