U.S. Navy's Incredible, Sci-Fi Railgun Fires 1,000th Bullet

Fox News.com ^ | November 02, 2011 | Fox News staff

[Windflier]

Navy scientists with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) hit a new milestone, succesfully firing their electromagnetic railgun for the 1,000th time as the state-of-the-art weapon edges closer to real world deployment.

A theoretical dream for decades, the railgun is unlike any other weapon used in warfare. And though still in testing, it's quite real, as the U.S. Navy proved in a record-setting test Monday, Oct. 31, in Dahlgren, Va.

Rather than relying on a explosion to fire a projectile, it 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.

[Jack Hammer]

That’s gotta sting a little.

[W. W. SMITH]

Above a certain speed there is no kinetic dump. So that is a limiting factor.

See also Chainmails post #15

Add to above, the Navy has discontinued funding further research by the foremost expert the Navy has and he is the worlds foremost expert.

[W. W. SMITH]

See my post above to Spetznaz

[W. W. SMITH]

Your tag line is in a strange way illuminating

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

I’ve had a lot of comments on it over the years. Came up with it when the Dems started to politicize the GWOT campaign in Iraq. It’s still appropriate in my view.

[DJ MacWoW]

Wake Up And Donate!

Click The Pic

Let's Make The Bar Yellow!

[Chainmail]

"When the Navy finishes development and fields a rail gun system, my bet is they’re still not going to want to use it for naval gunfire support of Marines ashore."

The Navy tried to sell it as an NGFS system but without any hope for terminal guidance or an explosive warhead at least in the forseeable future, no way Jose..

The Navy loves stuff that makes them look forward-looking and technologically advanced but they always come up short when it comes to actually providing amphibious lift or fire support for Marines. Even when they try, there's always this disconnect between Powerpoint and reality - such as the Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM). "Wait 9 minutes until the round arrives and then get little-bitty bomblets"

Semper Fi...

Chainmail 2/11 S-3 1986-87

[Vermont Lt]

I did not do well in physics, but wouldn’t it act like a bullets and come apart upon contact? Or is the process of launching the thing too powerful to have a projectile like that?

I did some reading the process after seeing something the other day. Amazing technology. DuPont will not be happy to find that powder is going to go the way of the buggy whip.

[GonzoGOP]

Make one large enough and you could launch ballistic payloads at targets more than 1000mi distant.

A 21st century version of the Paris Gun. Accuracy would stink, there is just too much turbulence experienced in atmospheric reentry to hit a pinpoint target. And the EM flux from the firing would fry any electronics in the shell so GPS terminal guidance is probably a non starter. But as a terror weapon it has potential.

[W. W. SMITH]

My physics is not up to the task either. My son however is studying for his masters at NPS in Monterey and described it to me. not that I could follow that well but as a neat experiment great, as a useful weapon, not so good. The worlds foremost expert is a professor at NPS and is some what depressed at no more funding.

[Windflier]

we truly live in a remarkable era. It truly is amazing, good, bad and ugly.

We sure do. I can remember my grandfather marveling at all the advancements he'd seen in his own life. He was born in rural Mississippi in 1906, where automobiles were so rare, that half the town came out when one passed through, and no one had electricity in their homes.

By the time he was 80 or so, he'd seen the invention of television, manned flight, space flight, computers, and every other technology we take for granted today.

[Windflier]

It’s downright weird how science fiction can become reality.

Artists dream the future that engineers then create. Interesting how that works.

[Windflier]

If that will stop an elk you just heartshot from running 3 miles uphill just to throw hisself off a 500 foot cliff I say where can I get one of them guns.

LOL

[Windflier]

Wonder if this would be a good space based weapon ? Could also be used to protect the planet from asteroids. Now would a satellite be propelled backwards after firing the projectile ?

You'd have to have one helluva recoil damping system to keep the platform from rocketing in the opposite direction.

[Windflier]

I love sci-fi. The object you described would literally turn a planet into an asteroid belt.

[Windflier]

When the Navy finishes development and fields a rail gun system, my bet is they’re still not going to want to use it for naval gunfire support of Marines ashore.

I fear you may be right. We've got some major malfunctions in the ranks at the top.