Provided is a launching apparatus capable of efficiently obtaining water pressure sufficient for launching an underwater payload, including a launch tube, a conduit including a first end portion and a communicating portion communicating with the launch tube, a plurality of conduit coils to axially aligned in a first region between the first end portion and the communicating portion, a plurality of main circuits passing an electric current through respective conduit coils, and a main-circuit control section. The main-circuit control section controls operation of the main circuits to pass electric currents through the conduit coils to generate an axial first magnetic field in the conduit and thereby cause an axial second magnetic field in a moving object, thereby moving the moving object in an advance direction toward a second end portion.

Provided is a launching apparatus capable of efficiently obtaining water pressure sufficient for launching an underwater payload, including a launch tube, a conduit including a first end portion and a communicating portion communicating with the launch tube, a plurality of conduit coils to axially aligned in a first region between the first end portion and the communicating portion, a plurality of main circuits passing an electric current through respective conduit coils, and a main-circuit control section. The main-circuit control section controls operation of the main circuits to pass electric currents through the conduit coils to generate an axial first magnetic field in the conduit and thereby cause an axial second magnetic field in a moving object, thereby moving the moving object in an advance direction toward a second end portion.

A projectile launcher includes: a storage and launching tube suitable for receiving a projectile; a breech sealing one end of the tube; a thruster arranged in the tube between the breech and the projectile, comprising a pressurized gas reserve and suitable for applying an ejection force to a projectile; a plug blocking the other end of the tube, having a locked configuration, in which the plug engages the internal wall of the tube so as to close the tube and to keep the projectile in the tube, and an unlocked configuration, in which the plug is free relative to the tube; and a trigger having a retracted resting configuration and a deployed configuration, suitable for triggering, causing the plug to pass from the locked configuration to the unlocked configuration; wherein the trigger is pneumatic and is supplied with pressure by the reserve.

A spatially-distributed architecture (SDA) of antennas transmits a set of uniquely coded signals. A first receiver having a known position in a coordinate system defined by the SDA receives reflected versions of the uniquely coded signals. A first processor receives the reflected versions of the uniquely coded signals and identifies a position of a non-cooperative object in the coordinate system. A platform having a second receiver receives non-reflected versions of the uniquely coded signals. The platform determines a position of the platform in the coordinate system. In an example, the platform uses a self-determined position and a position of the non-cooperative object communicated from the SDA to navigate or guide the platform relative to the non-cooperative object. In another example, the platform uses a self-determined position and information from an alternative signal source in a second coordinate system to guide the platform after a coordinate conversion.