FOX NEWS
A theoretical dream for decades, the railgun is unlike any other weapon used in warfare. And it’s quite real too, as the U.S. Navy has proven in a record-setting test today in Dahlgren, VA.
Rather than relying on a explosion to fire a projectile, the technology uses an electomagnetic current to accelerate a non-explosive bullet at several times the speed of sound. The conductive projectile zips along a set of electrically charged parallel rails and out of the barrel at speeds up to Mach 7.
The result: a weapon that can hit a target 100 miles or more away within minutes.
Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle ! How fast can it fire in Rounds per Minute or Rounds per Hour ? Charging up to the 33 MegaJoules must take some time…
This was a 1/2 power test, at full power, the range goes to 250 miles.
I suspect hypervelocity projectiles will take out anti-ship missiles, ballistic or flying.
Every 5 seconds, just one of these gizmos will get a projectile out 2 miles in the first second, even a maneuvering target might find it very hard to get out of the way.
Blessed are those who keep their head down.
I wonder how they keep the rails from vaporizing or at least pitting or melting after firing a few rounds? The projectiles + enormous current are extremely rough on any metal that comes to mind…
The next gen aircraft carriers are already testing this for launching aircraft (at a much slower velocity of course), rather than the traditional steam catapult systems.
“Another advantage? NO EXPLOSIVE CARTRIDGES. Bullets and missiles ARE explosive, TOTALLY if handled improperly…NOW all you need is the bullet, which ISNT explosive.”
With any sort of weapon, you’re always concerned it may harm you instead of the enemy by discharging its energy locally instead of far away. The rail gun doesn’t have explosives to harm you, but it does have that electrical system of amazing capacity right in your lap on a ship. If the enemy can set that off to discharge all its energy potential at ones, it would be *just like*, say, the munitions in a magazine blowing up at once. A smart enemy would send one aircraft(a “railgun buster”)forward to short-circuit the power supply and just melt that ship into the sea.
In warfare, there is no magic bullet or free lunch!