ASHTON -- Mason County Road 80 winds through a serene landscape dotted with homes and small farms.

On most days, little disrupts life along the peaceful country road. But occasionally, the generally tranquil setting is rattled by a sound one likely would not expect in this Ohio Valley community: the thunderous boom of naval artillery.

The sound emanates from a hollow tucked away just off of Mason 80. It is the home of a research facility owned by Manassas, Va.-based Utron Inc. For the past five years, the research and development company has been working on a cutting-edge weapon that one day could be used on U.S. Navy ships, said Dave Kruczynski, vice president of defense systems for Utron.

"As far as we know, nobody else in the world is working on this," he said.

Utron's 155-mm combustion light gas gun, or CLGG, project could be the biggest leap forward in gun technology since the invention of the weapon, Kruczynski said.

Advanced Technology

Conventional guns, including naval artillery, use gunpowder as propellants. When the powder is ignited, the explosion propels a projectile out of the barrel and to a target.

The CLGG uses hydrogen and oxygen as a propellant, Kruczynski said. Hydrogen and oxygen, which is a type of rocket fuel, are stored separately and pumped into a pressure chamber at the breach-end of the barrel. An igniter causes the mixture to explode, and that explosion propels the shell.

"It's actually rocket science," he said. "We use a higher-performance hydrogen-oxygen mixture. It's more efficient and produces a higher velocity."

An M-16 rifle fires a bullet at about 3,000 feet per second. The CLGG can fire a much larger shell at more than 8,000 feet per second, Kruczynski said.

The new gun has a much greater range too, he said. Conventional naval artillery can fire projectiles 15 to 20 miles. The CLGG system can fire a shell in excess of 200 miles, Kruczynski said.

"It can fire them so far that the projectiles need to have guidance systems on them," he said.

The projectiles will have global positioning satellite systems and fins that guide them to their targets, he said.

The idea for such a weapon dates back to the 1980s, he said.

"It goes back to the Star Wars era," Kruczynski said. "They were looking for an ultra-high velocity gun for missile defense. Now it's being applied in other areas."

Utron has worked on the concept for the past 10 years, he said. The company purchased the Ashton site from General Dynamics Corp. five years ago and started fabricating parts and testing the gun there. The firm recently opened a third office in Montgomery, where engineers are researching how to integrate the gun system into naval vessels. That research is being conducted in conjunction with the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

The Aston office sits on about 300 acres and employs about 35, Kruczynski said.

Because Utron conducts research, designs components and test fires the weapon all at the Ashton location, Kruczynski refers to it as the "Skunk Works for guns" referring to the Lockheed Martin Corp. unit that designs top-secret military aircraft.

So far, Utron technicians in Ashton have been test firing a 45-mm version of the gun. The full-scale version arrived on site in Mason County a few weeks ago and still is being assembled. The company plans to have it ready to begin test firing within the next two or three months.

Advantages

The CLGG is designed to provide fire support for troops, such as Marines landing on a beach, Kruczynski said.

"It's designed for very long-range shore support," he said. "... When this gun is put on a ship, it will be able to support troops and reach far inland."

Today, the Navy has three options to provide that kind of support: 1) Bring a ship close enough to fire a conventional 5-inch gun, making it susceptible small rocket fire; 2) Fire an expensive missile that would take longer to reach the target than an artillery shell; and 3) Use aircraft, which would make the pilot and plane susceptible to rocket fire, and take much longer in most cases.

Advantages of the CLGG include:

• Cheaper: Shells for the new gun can be made for about one-tenth the cost of a missile.
• Faster: Projectiles reach maximum velocity almost instantly, meaning a shell can reach its target much faster than a missile or an aircraft.
• Safer: The hydrogen and oxygen will be stored in liquid form in different parts of the ship, making it more stable.
• Easily removed: Hydrogen and oxygen can be pumped out of the ship quickly and easily. This would be helpful in the event of a fire on board. It also can be dumped when the ship docks.
• Environmentally friendly: Because hydrogen and oxygen are elements, dumping them into the ocean poses no environmental risks.
• Easily replicated: Naval vessels can be rigged with devices that can remove hydrogen from the water and oxygen from the air, meaning ships have a limitless supply of propellant.

Next Generation

During much of the first half of the 20th century, naval artillery was the primary weapon used at sea. After World War II, however, big gun ships, such as the Missouri class battleships, were mothballed, and missiles and aircraft became the weapons of choice.

But the CLGG could breathe new life into the gun, Kruczynski said. And it's not a pipe dream. Kruczynski envisions the technology being ready for use by the Navy in about five years. The Navy's new DD(X) 21st century destroyer project could be one of the first applications of the new weapon, Kruczynski said.

Once the technology advances, and the components become small enough, such a gun could be placed on a tank or used in other capacities, he said.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is one of the company's strongest proponents, Kruczynski said.

"If it wasn't for Sen. Byrd, Utron wouldn't be in West Virginia," he said.

This past fall, Byrd added $4.25 million to the fiscal year 2007 Department of Defense appropriations bill for Utron to develop a GPS system projectile for the CLGG.

"Utron continues to be a leading force in developing the military's weapons of the future," Byrd said in a prepared statement. "These advances help to increase America's military power and ensure the safety of our troops. Utron's investment in West Virginia is reaping dividends for the state's economy and the nation's security."

Research on the CLGG is being conducted with the Office of Naval Research, said Mike Ezzo, range manager in Ashton. ONR officials regularly visit the site, he said.

Utron technicians also are conducting research into electric light gas gun technology, Kruczynski said. They have constructed a one-of-a-kind 16-mm test gun for that project. That is a longer-range project, however. Kruczynski predicts that technology is 15 to 20 years from being practical.