US Navy preps railgun for tests

The US Navy’s Office of Naval Research is preparing to test a prototype railgun delivered by BAE Systems under a $US21 million contract signed in 2010.

The industry prototype – a kind of dream machine for Mythbusters’ fans – is due for tests in coming weeks at a facility in Dahlgren, Virginia.

The ONR’s aim is to develop a weapon launcher with a 50-100 nautical mile range, and up to 220 nautical miles in the longer term.

Railguns use high-current electrical pulses able to accelerate a conductive armature to as much as 5,600 mph (more than 9,000 km/h). The ONA says the railgun will be suitable for naval surface fire support, land strikes, cruise and ballistic missile defense, and surface warfare.

The Register

So..... When can I add one to the collection? $21 million is a bit pricey...

Imagine how many lives this new weapon is going save!!!

This type of technology is going to bring freedom and democracy to at least another 2 new countries. Awesome.

reply to post by Magnivea


It's actually ridiculously cheap as far as US military spending goes...

Navy got $161.4 billion for this financial year.

Originally posted by Ixtab
Imagine how many lives this new weapon is going save!!!

This type of technology is going to bring freedom and democracy to at least another 2 new countries. Awesome.

Ha, this made me laugh more than it should....

reply to post by Chadwickus

It is for them, but even if the price for civilian ownership halves like the P90 did, I still can't afford $10.5 million. I guess I'll have to wait until it's old tech.

This thing is pretty bad...

reply to post by lucifuge


Wow, the railgun from Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is becoming a reality!

reply to post by Magnivea


Don't forget the power bill for this puppy.

It sucks the juice like you wouldn't believe!

reply to post by Chadwickus


That's what neighbors' outdoor outlets are for. Well Railguns and A/C.

Originally posted by Magnivea
reply to post by Chadwickus

 

That's what neighbors' outdoor outlets are for. Well Railguns and A/C.

im gonna mount one on the back of a hemi

Technically, with magnetism, the earth can be turned into a rail gun.

And to think, H.G. Wells told us to be afraid of Mars.

Mars ball into the corner pocket.

The ongoing running costs for this would be pretty large, Aside from the fuel needed to produce the enormous amounts of power to charge the capacitor bank, The capacitors themselves don't have a long life at the sort of currents that they are providing and the fact that the actual rails inside the gun that the projectile sits on don't last too long with 1.5 million amperes being discharged through them every time it fires! The rails tend to vaporise...

Because of the charging time required for the capacitors I doubt this weapon would be capable of a high rate of fire (not at full power anyway). Also the rails would need an immense cooling system. That level of power would produce huge amounts of heat.

Well the power plants of most US warships are reactors now right? It seems to be the railgun would be able to build charges fairly fast especially if one engine was dedicated to charging it. The heat issue is a bit troubling though. A possible solution would to have a port open on the bittom of the ship drawing in ocean water to disperse heat along with liquid nitrogen cooling units. I just want to see that baby shoot down a missile.

Originally posted by yuppa
I just want to see that baby shoot down a missile.

I very much doubt that the rail gun system would ever play a role in missile defense. That is the realm of the new laser air defense systems and anti-missile missiles. I think that rail gun will stick to ship to ship and ship to shore gunnery.
The weapon is very fast but I don't think it is fast enough to contend with today's super high speed anti-ship missiles especially in regards to traverse and tracking speed. Not to mention it is not guided so no mid course corrections, which wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the projectile being strictly kinetic energy on target (i.e. no explosives or smart fuses).

Aside from that this is still an amazing weapons system that will greatly increase the US Navy's ability to project power. Can't wait to see these fielded.

Since this technology is British, I fully expect BAe Systems to be giving numerous examples to the UK for free.

Here's another picture of the EM Railgun launcher prototype:



This article says it will be used for:

conduct precise naval surface fire support, or land strikes; cruise missile and ballistic missile defense; and surface warfare to deter enemy vessels. Navy planners are targeting a 50- to 100-nautical mile initial capability with expansion up to 220 nautical miles.

www.physorg.com...

What if they use self-guided projectiles, like the self-guided bullets discussed recently:

www.wired.com...

This would be a real game changer

Am I the only one who misses sails, gunpowder and cannon balls?

The US Navy has tested fired it's rail gun! Go Navy!

Naval Rail Gun

ONR began firing railgun slugs in its laboratories in 2008, but this is the first time the Navy has tested the gun from a launcher that resembles what the final weapon system will look like, Roger Ellis, the EM Railgun program officer, said in an interview. Read more: www.foxnews.com...

Basically while they've fired before, that was prototypes in the lab, where as this is the first time they've done it with the same set up that the Navy would use on their ships.

While right now it's being developed as a weapon, there are peaceful applications that this can be used for, such as launching from orbit or low gravity places like the moon, removing the need for chemical rockets for launch.

I recall years and years ago, joking with someone about how advanced our weapons systems were now...but if you think about it, this is sort of like going back to slinging rocks! hehehehehe.

Of course, this rock has a bit more punch to it: 20 megajoules (and then 32 megajoules), where 1 megajoule is the same energy as a 1 ton car going 100 mph. That's a LOT of energy!

The railgun could be built in space on a giant scale. This would make defending earth much easier.

Originally posted by saveliberty2012really
The railgun could be built in space on a giant scale. This would make defending earth much easier.

What are you going to anchor it to.
In space every action has a equal and opposite effect. you fire a projectile one way and you would thrust the rail gun the other way with the same force.

It might be a way to move a asteroid
just put a rail gun on the asteroid and start firing pieces of the asteroid in one direction and the asteroid would start slowly moving in the other direction.

Or you might put a big railgun on the moon. then fire the projectiles at earth.

A telephone pole size rod of nickel/iron would make nuclear weapons obsolete as the Rods From GOD would hit earth with the force of a nuclear weapon.
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...