Patent ID: 8079352

Claim:
An electromagnetic rail gun launcher for launching an armature attached to an electronic countermeasure decoy, comprising: a barrel, comprising a first main rail and an opposing second main rail defining a bore therebetween, having a breech and a muzzle; a first augmenting rail positioned outboard of and parallel to the first main rail and separated from the first main rail by an insulator; a second augmenting rail positioned outboard of and parallel to the first augmenting rail and separated from the first augmenting rail by an insulator; a third augmenting rail positioned outboard of and parallel to the second main rail and separated from the second main rail by an insulator; a fourth augmenting rail positioned outboard of and parallel to the third augmenting rail and separated from the third augmenting rail by an insulator; and wherein each of said augmenting rails substantially extends from the breech to the muzzle; a first electrically-conducting crossover connecting the first main rail to the third augmenting rail proximate to the breech; a second electrically-conducting crossover connecting the first augmenting rail to the second main rail proximate to the breech; a third electrically-conducting crossover connecting the first augmenting rail to the fourth augmenting rail proximate to the muzzle; and a fourth electrically-conducting crossover connecting the second augmenting rail to the third augmenting rail proximate to the muzzle; whereby when current is provided to the rails with the armature positioned in the bore at the breech, a magnetic field is generated and a current is introduced into the armature that is perpendicular to the magnetic field to produce a force on the armature in the direction of the muzzle and thereby propel the armature with attached decoy through the bore and out of the launcher at a selected velocity in a selected direction.