Weight, dimensional, and power parameters mainly determine the characteristics of electrical equipment. For electromagnetic switching equipment, a substantial improvement in these indices can be achieved thanks to forced and pulse driver control. Therefore, the development of an effective technique to design forced driving electromagnets using refined mathematical models and the determination of electromagnetic and thermal characteristics of these magnets taking into account modern operation requirements for switching equipment are an urgent problem. In this paper, a method to design a forced armor plunger electromagnet in a circuit with a ballast resistor has been proposed. This technique makes it possible to minimize the total mass of electrical steel and winding copper used in the manufacturing of the electromagnet. Calculation expressions for the basic proportionality of the electromagnet that minimize its total weight have been obtained.