Posted on 06/01/2015 6:15:44 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
The U.S. Navy’s deck guns could take on new relevance if ongoing tests to fire a guided round at five times the speed of sound from their muzzles are successful, USNI News has learned.
Using rounds initially designed for the service’s emerging electromagnetic railgun, Naval Sea Systems Command are now in early testing phases of using the planned hyper velocity projectile (HVPs) with the service’s existing gunpowder-based deck guns found on almost every U.S. Navy surface ship, NAVSEA told USNI News.
The HVPs from a traditional deck gun will be slower than one launched from a railgun — a little over Mach 5 versus Mach 7 — but still double the speed of an unguided regular shell from the service’s Mk 45 five-inch gun found on its guided missile cruisers and destroyers, according to information from NAVSEA.
While deck guns are standard through out the fleet, they lack the range precision of the guided missiles found on cruisers and destroyers and have had shrinking utility in high-end warfare.
A high speed guided round from a deck gun could give U.S. ships more options to deal with air and ballistic missile threats while the Navy continues to refine the railgun design. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at news.usni.org ...
but what good are they going to be against global warming? /s
Can they hit Mecca from the Red Sea?
Interesting to an old Navy man like me.
Ed
Sometimes lobbing a shell the size of a Volkswagen Bug at Point du Hoc can make quit an impression.
Will anyone use it to protect the territorial integrity of the once great nation? No.
They’re busy revving up the powerful Mach 5!
And when the odds are against .... oh nevermind.
“Can they hit Mecca from the Red Sea?”
Probably. The rail gun has a range of over 300 miles I don’t know what the range of these would be but I would think it is substantial
+1.
At that kind of velocity from a rifled barrel, how do they keep the projectile from self-destructing in flight?
The barrel would probably be made smooth with the round saboted.
Not before January 20, 2017!
I was thinking the same thing. Is it too late to bring the New Jersey back?
The published muzzle velocity of the Mk 45 is 2650 fps or Mach 3.5
So how are they going to get the guided munition from Mach 3.5 to 5.0?
[BAE Systems’ Hyper Velocity Projectile]
Since it’s a kinetic energy projectile the solid core is made from tungsten carbide or some heat resistant alloy.
Can’t wait to get my hands on one of these and take it to the range....
Don't know but I found this:
Naval Sea Systems Command is also looking to fire a version of the hyper velocity projectile (HVP) developed for Navy electromagnetic railguns from conventional 5-inch deck guns. The shell would travel at Mach 5 rather than Mach 7, but still be twice as fast as a regular unguided 5-inch shell. Using the HVP could give existing destroyers and cruisers better ability to engage land, air, and missile threats and allow more time to refine the railgun. The HVP would be a cheaper solution to intercepting incoming missiles than a missile interceptor costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Converting the HVP to fire from conventional guns is not yet a program of record.[8]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.