Post by: Bob33 on June 02, 2015, 12:31:03 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/04/15/navy-will-test-its-electromagnetic-railgun-aboard-ddg-1000/?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obinsite
The railgun uses electrical energy to create a magnetic field and propel a kinetic energy projectile at Mach 7.5 toward a wide range of targets, such as enemy vehicles, or cruise and ballistic missiles.
"The weapon works when electrical power charges up a pulse-forming network. That pulse-forming network is made up of capacitors able to release very large amounts of energy in a very short period of time. The weapon releases a current on the order of 3 to 5 million amps --- that's 1,200 volts released in a ten millisecond timeframe. That is enough to accelerate a mass of approximately 45 pounds from zero to five thousand miles per hour in one one-hundredth of a second," Ziv added.
The hypervelocity projectile is a kinetic energy warhead, meaning it has no explosives engineered into it. This lowers the cost and the logistics burden of the weapon, Ziv said.
The rate of fire is 10-rounds per minute, Ziv said.
Due to its ability to reach speeds of up to 5,600 miles per hour, the hypervelocity projectile is engineered as a kinetic energy warhead, meaning no explosives are necessary. The hyper velocity projectile can travel at speeds up to 2,000 meters per second, a speed which is about three times that of most existing weapons
Post by: whacker1 on June 02, 2015, 12:34:06 PM
Post by: Fl0und3rz on June 02, 2015, 12:35:45 PM
10 rounds per minute......I wonder if it builds up some heat?
I wonder if that limit is just based on charging up the flux capacitors.
Post by: whacker1 on June 02, 2015, 12:39:57 PM
flux capacitors? What is this world coming to :chuckle:
Post by: Timberstalker on June 02, 2015, 01:34:41 PM
Post by: Tbob on June 02, 2015, 01:44:29 PM
Post by: SilkOnTheDrySide on June 02, 2015, 01:49:08 PM
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Post by: Special T on June 02, 2015, 02:08:50 PM
only $25,000 per shot ;)
Which is actually pretty damn cheep compared to cruze missles and even many conventional weapons.
Post by: Stein on June 02, 2015, 02:42:57 PM
only $25,000 per shot ;)
Which is actually pretty damn cheep compared to cruze missles and even many conventional weapons.
I know guys that have $10k in their hunting rifle and probably won't shoot it at an animal more than 5 times in their lifetime.
Post by: Special T on June 02, 2015, 03:04:48 PM
This lays out a pretty good comparision of cost of munitions. For the aircraft born munitions this does not include the "delivery" costs, just the cost of the rocket or bomb.
I know one of the HUGE jumps in warfare is artilery that is GPS aimed so that there is no more "walking it in". Just death on impact first salvo is fire for effect.