Japan's railgun demonstrator.
Japan’s defense acquisition organization says it has struck an agreement with authorities in France and Germany to explore railgun technology.
The aim of the collaboration is to work toward “early deployment” of the technology, Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) said in a social media post.
ATLA confirmed that the signatories are the French Ministry of Armed Forces, the German Ministry of Defense and the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL).
ATLA said the agreement covers the possibility of collaboration on railgun technologies by facilitating information exchange and technical meetings among the four parties.
Japan has long signaled interest in railguns that use electromagnetic forces as a potential alternative air defense system, especially to counter hypersonic weapons.
In the mid-2010s, ISL was developing the 25mm Rapid Fire Railgun (Rafira), which was focused on achieving a muzzle velocity of 3,000 m/sec., under the €15 million European Technology for ElectroMagnetic Artillery (THEMA) project. ISL says it is now developing the New Generation Launcher-60 to fire larger projectiles at speeds up to 2,000 m/sec.
Japan’s participation comes as ATLA confirms that it has dispatched one researcher to the U.S. Navy to acquire technical knowledge about railguns. It is currently working with Japan Steel Works on a demonstrator, having conducted a live naval test in October 2023 against an unspecified target.
ATLA said it achieved its desired result in the October test, as it was able to confirm compatibility with the ship-based equipment and obtain data on the effect of these systems.
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