Kettering firm has role in Navy weapon research

KETTERING — IAP Research Inc., a contractor for the Defense Department, said its research supported a test of a “railgun” weapon that is capable of firing a 23-pound projectile at least 110 miles.

The goal is to improve the weapon’s performance so that a projectile could be hurled 200 miles in six minutes from a Navy ship, said Dave Bauer, the Kettering company’s vice president and head of the railgun project. IAP is doing the work in collaboration with defense contractor BAE Systems and the Office of Naval Research.