Six megajoule rail gun test facility

CHECMATE, a high-energy rail gun user test facility, is currently operational at Maxwell Laboratories, Inc. in San Diego, California. Sponsored by the Strategic Defense Initiative Office (SDIO) and the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), it utilizes Maxwell´s newly-developed high energy density capacitor technology. It thus represents the first rail gun facility where the high reliability, fast turnaround, and versatility of capacitor banks are combined with the multimegajoule energy previously available only with explosive flux compressors or large homopolar generators.