Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey has unveiled its new prototype of SAPAN electromagnetic railgun at the High Tech Port 2016, held in Istanbul from 9-12 November 2016.

The SAPAN is an electromagnetic projectile launcher based on similar principles to the homopolar motor. A railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors, or rails, along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail.

According to Turkish media outlets, the weapon uses electromagnetic currents rather than explosives or propellants made with gunpowder, enabling projectiles to be fired from the railgun at speeds much higher than those of conventional weaponry.