It’s a weapon right out of science fiction, and one that is in the works at Dahlgren in King George. The Navy says it will begin testing the first  industry railgun prototype launcher  this month.“This is the next step toward a future tactical system that will be placed on board a ship some day,”  Roger Ellis, program manager of the electromagnetic railgun, said in a press release from the Office of Naval Research. The launcher,”is a long-range weapon that fires projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants. Magnetic fields created by high electrical currents accelerate a sliding metal conductor, or armature, between two rails to launch projectiles at 4,500 mph to 5,600 mph.” In a test shot at Dahlgren in December 2010, the Navy set a new world record speed for a projectile, with a muzzle velocity of 32 megajoules. One megajoule of energy would be equal to a one-ton truck traveling at 100 mph. Read my story about that test here, and watch Navy video here.  Until now, the launchers have been built by government labs. The first industry-produced prototype, a 32-megajoule system made by BAE Systems, was delivered to Dahlgren  in January, according to the release. A second prototype launcher made by General Atomics, is on its way. The Navy recently awarded $10 million contracts through its Naval Sea Systems Command to Raytheon Corp., BAE Systems and General Atomics to develop a pulsed power system for launching projectiles in rapid succession.