How Bi***in Is This?

i have always loved the rail gun. nice to see it take the stage.

news.yahoo.com...

The first weapon-scale prototype of a futuristic Navy railgun began undergoing firing tests last week, the next big step toward putting the electromagnetic superweapon on U.S. warships by 2020. The Navy envisions using railguns to destroy enemy ships, defend against enemy missiles, or bombard land targets in support of Marines hitting the beaches. Newly released video shows the prototype railgun using an electric-powered launcher rather than gunpowder to fire a huge hypersonic bullet in a cloud of flame and smoke. The Office of Naval Research hopes its new test phase — scheduled to last until 2017 — leads to a Navy weapon capable of hurling 40-pound projectiles at speeds of 4,500 mph to 5,600 mph over 50 to 100 miles (7,240 to 9,010 kilometers per hour over 80 to 161 kilometers). The full-size prototype, made by BAE Systems, "looks like a real gun," said Roger Ellis, program manager for the railgun at the Office of Naval Research, during a media teleconference today (Feb. 28). Previous tests involved clunky laboratory prototypes that would never see action aboard a Navy warship. U.S. Navy commanders ultimately want a weapon capable of firing up to 10 guided projectiles per minute at targets up to 100 miles away. Navy warships currently have 5-inch guns capable of firing at distances of 13 miles. "There is potential to replace the 5-inch gun, but it would do far more," Ellis said in response to an InnovationNewsDaily question. The railgun could hit the same distant targets that Navy missiles strike today, he said. A second railgun prototype, built by General Atomics, is set to arrive for testing in April, Ellis said. Having railguns built by different companies gives the Navy a choice if it ultimately decides to deploy the superweapon. Both General Atomics and BAE Systems committed millions of their own dollars during the first $240 million test phase, which recently ended. The newly begun Phase II is funded at about the same amount. It is testing prototypes capable of harnessing 32 megajoules of energy. Just one megajoule would be enough to throw a 1-ton car 100 mph. During the five years of Phase II, the Navy plans to test cooling systems and a battery that could store the energy required by the railgun. It has contracted with General Atomics, BAE Systems and Raytheon for designs for a pulsed power system. Because of its hypersonic speed produced by the railgun, a projectile shaped like a bullet could deliver devastating damage even without exploding. It could include electronic guidance systems such as GPS that would be protected against the immense heat of the giant bullet's hypersonic passage. "The rounds we are firing currently are non-aerodynamic slugs," Ellis said of the testing. "They match the interior ballistics of what the launcher is expected to see but are intended to slow down quickly." If all goes well, the Navy could end up equipping its ships with railguns of all different sizes. Companies such as General Atomics have already built smaller railguns for their own testing purposes. "We believe this is game-changing technology, and in our case we've invested internal funds of more than $20 million for a subscale prototype to move the technology forward," said Tom Hurn, director of railgun programs at San Diego-based General Atomics.

any thoughts?

reply to post by omegacorps


As much as my engineer/mechanic side loves this,i cant help but think this is a monumental waste of millions that could be used for better purposes

There is already enough devastating weapons in the world,who needs more

very interesting indeed i would however recommend that you cut the quote down as i think it violates the T&C's concerning off site content, however it's still a good find.

any thoughts?

My first thought was: A giant wall of blue text hurt my eyes to read.

reply to post by ScottishBiker420


you are 100% right there. yeah it is the kid / gamer side of me.

reply to post by ScottishBiker420


its the navy after some new pew pew that will make it more than just a transport system for aircraft as if they can hit long distance with accuracy then the return of naval might like it was upto WW2 and its cheaper especially for nuclear powered craft to fire off rounds using this tech than paying a million bucks a missile

reply to post by boncho


sorry if blue hurts your eyes? might need to get that checked

Originally posted by omegacorps
reply to post by boncho

 

sorry if blue hurts your eyes? might need to get that checked

It's more the wall of blue than it is the blue itself.

reply to post by omegacorps


You choose to take pride in our ability to create destructive machinery?

I would rather take shame in our inability to devise a cure for cancer. That, at least, would be a worthy investment of our atrocious national debt...

reply to post by Starchild23


we have a cure.its just cancer is big business and cures dont pay well

reply to post by omegacorps

You're almost right. At least one of the cures is illegal.

Just what we need ,another weapon of death.
Imagine what humanity could of achieved if all these trillions of dollars were spent on life saving/enhancement etc technologies rather than life ceasing technologies.

reply to post by omegacorps


Only private citizens should be allowed to play with rail guns!

Originally posted by Maxatoria
reply to post by ScottishBiker420

 

its the navy after some new pew pew that will make it more than just a transport system for aircraft as if they can hit long distance with accuracy then the return of naval might like it was upto WW2 and its cheaper especially for nuclear powered craft to fire off rounds using this tech than paying a million bucks a missile

Not to mention fire faster and give the enemy less time to react. I cant help but think though that this system may not do enough damage to the ship unless it hits a vital part of the ship. This backed up by missiles would be the answer.

Originally posted by boncho

any thoughts?

My first thought was: A giant wall of blue text hurt my eyes to read.

It would be nice to have mass chunks of text be broken down into readable format. I don't mind the blue text, very pretty color to use

no problem i will break it up in the future. thanks for letting me know.

reply to post by Lexx790


well that money made jobs. and as cheep of a weapon this will be to fire it will save more money than building bombs......

you guy's can kill muslim's quite effectively as it is, why not feed your homeless instead?

reply to post by lacrimosa


not for muslims. its for gophers.....