No, the rail-gun projectile will be a fairly sophisticated thing. It has to have a guidance system to be able to hit things at long range, so it includes a lot

No, the rail-gun projectile will be a fairly sophisticated thing. It has to have a guidance system to be able to hit things at long range, so it includes a lot of electronics. (Similar, in fact, to the projectile in the article we are commenting on now.) But the projectile is not the most tricky part. The plan is to develop a single "hypervelocity projectile" which can be fired by both chemical and rail guns, so it seems likely that that part will work out. The rail gun itself needs a lot more research and development to get to a usable form. See e.g. this rather pessimistic article[0]. Meanwhile, the Navy doesn't care enough about the Zuwalt guns to even buy ammunition for them. How much will they spend on building a better gun? [0] http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/06/can-navys-electric-cannon-be-saved/128793/ http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2016/06/can-navys-elect...