from the Bad ass weapons file:

 

 

Link

 

 

DAHLGREN, Va. — A futuristic weapon getting a trial run by the Navy demonstrated its destructive power at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren. In the demonstration Thursday, engineers fired the electromagnetic railgun at what they said was a record power level: 10 megajoules. The previous railgun power-use record was about 9 megajoules of muzzle energy.

 

Railguns use electromagnetic energy to launch projectiles long distances — more than 200 nautical miles.Because the railgun uses electricity and not gunpowder to fire projectiles, it eliminates the possibility of explosions on ships.

 

The Navy hopes the railgun will eventually replace the standard 5-inch gun on its ships. The weapon isn't expected to be deployed until at least 2020. [A joule is defined as the energy needed to produce one watt of electricity for one second.

 

The railgun tested Thursday actually has a capacity of 32 megajoules, but the Navy is slowly building up the energy level in a series of tests. That's a lot of power, but with a new series of electrically-powered ships coming on line, the Navy figures generating capacity will not be a problem.

 

According to the Navy, the railgun, when fully developed, will be able to launch solid projectiles at Mach 5, or about 3,700 mph.]

from the Bad ass weapons file:

 

 

Link

 

I think I'd rather be shot by a bullet than that. 3,700 MPH? Instant death?

Edited February 2, 200818 yr by BobDylan

I think I'd rather be shot by a bullet than that. 3,700 MPH? Instant death?

 

For reference, a Winchester .270 Rifle Bullet fires at 1,924 mph. Energy goes by the square of velocity, so those "solid projectiles" from the rail gun have almost four times the energy of a normal bullet.

From what i heard, when they get the power as high as they want to, the projectiles literally make whatever they hit 'explode' from the energy release. A few destroyers with these things on them can probably do the same damage as a fully stocked aircraft carrier! (and at less cost, too!)

From what i heard, when they get the power as high as they want to, the projectiles literally make whatever they hit 'explode' from the energy release. A few destroyers with these things on them can probably do the same damage as a fully stocked aircraft carrier! (and at less cost, too!)

In other words...this is a weapon that given enough development could put an end to the heavily armored capital ship as we've known it for the last 100 years, by making it so that the most important ship in the fleet could be destroyed by something far weaker.

Another advantage to this type of weapon is that with no "explosion" to launch it, the launch is difficult to detect and thus becomes a stealth weapon to surprise it's victims.

Perfect weapon for a group that has smaller fast moving ships looking to make total destruction as quickly as possible, wouldn't you say?

sure, they'd have to get one first. Which at this point, would be harder than getting a nuke.

I am so happy to learn that our government is researching ways to make everyone's life better.

Perfect weapon for a group that has smaller fast moving ships looking to make total destruction as quickly as possible, wouldn't you say?

Would kinda be hard to have a go fast boat with an electrical power plant on it.

Would kinda be hard to have a go fast boat with an electrical power plant on it.

 

Fast is a relative term.

 

I'm speaking of a destroyer-sized ship.