An 8 megajoule Railgun was tested at Dahlgren Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia. Future tests are calling for a 32 megajoule gun before a 64 megajoule railgun is deployed aboard US Navy ships. Using electromagnetically fired railguns rather than conventional ordinance, the Navy hopes to increase the range of fire from ships by ten times to about 250 nautical miles. The project is expected to be operational by 2020. Last week Popular Science printed an article about a similar project being undertaken by the US Air Force. The Air Force project is expected to launch satellites and supplies into orbit.