RavenX RavenX

Railguns: The Navy's 'Ultimate Superweapon'

▼

Railguns: The Navy's 'Ultimate Superweapon'

Bad Ass!!!

from Elemental Forums

If this isn't cool I don't know what is. I've known about this for a while and if you've watched certain shows on Discovery or the History Channel or even the Military Channel then you've probably known about it too. There's also one in Tranformers 2 the movie but of course that's just a sci-fi envisioning of the real thing, which is actually coming to a battleship near you real soon. I found this article in TheWeek.com.

Link to Story

There's also some vids on YouTube:

To quote from the article linked above, " The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is now test-firing a working prototype of the weapon that's small enough to fit on a warship. Using electric pulses, not chemical explosives, the cannon can shoot a 40-pound metal slug from New York to Philadelphia at up to 5,600 miles per hour — more than seven times the speed of sound — with 32 times the force of a car traveling at 100 miles per hour.".

I've seen better tests than in this video and if you look around YouTube you'll find them. For something that's supposed to have been under-wraps it hasn't been that secret, but, now they're announcing it so it'll be world news. From what I've heard these weapons can do a lot more impressive things than what they're saying in the article. I've heard they're even considering using railgun magnetics with what's basically a giant "Hot-Wheels" track looking launchpad to shoot stuff into orbit. 


 

221,760 views 81 replies
Reply #51 from Elemental Forums Top


I am a pacifist and not make believe. I am real. I will fight you if you want me to. I am not a purist. And I am not a coward. I stand by what I said earlier and that is essentially this: destroying the Earth in order to extract strategic metals to create Super Weapons is PURE EVIL. Making monstrous devices in order to mass murder is sociopathic.

Why not find a more intelligent use for our mineralogic wealth?

Is invading a weaker nation in the guise of "blah blah blah" in order to take their riches justifiable if the other nation is at a superior level of technology and industry? And therefore is it ok for a healthy young man to take a decrepit old ladies purse because he could indeed make better use of her money?

Don't ever confuse peace with weakness. Some of us think that our specie is on the wrong path. And then again, some of you seem to derive sadistic pleasure from other people's suffering.

How would you like it if your son came back from a war with missing limbs? Yeah I know, he was brave. Tell that to his fiance.

How would you like it if we were invaded and butchered?

I am sorry if I offend anyone here. I love technology and respect our military. I detest violence nonetheless and would love to see our metals used for something intelligent and benefical to all of humanity.  If you disagree I am sorry if it hurts your feelings. Go take MMA lessons and fight a fair fight. Lilke a man.

 

Reply #52 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Lord, reply 48
To believe that if I choose to not fight back, the bullys will treat me with the respect I deserve is a joke.

Actually...in my experience it works.

I was bullied in secondary school...by someone twice my size.  I didn't raise a finger...but I won all the same.

In the end it 'served him' better to be seen as my 'friend'.

I didn't care either way....;p

OK...so it was a psychological 'war' that I won....and he was an utterly defenseless 'moron'.

Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #53 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 42
Quoting RavenX, reply 33The first time a person cracked a whip the sound barrier broke. The whip cracking is actually the tip of the whip breaking the sound barrier.

No kidding, Einstein.  You just yet again shoot Yeager's 'accomplishment' in the foot.

Think of me as your auntie... I know how to suck eggs.....

lol, I'll refrain from being a smart ass just this once but only because you left your-self open to all kinds of "sucking" cracks and jokes.... auntie. :P

Quoting Destraex, reply 44
I thought he was talking about a "man" travelling past the said speed?

Indeed, I was. You got the right idea of what I meant when I was talking about scientists thinking that "man", aka a human being, would never break the sound barrier when traveling back in the early days prior to the common use of jet engines. Before Yeager there were of course rumors and myths that the sound barrier had been previously broken, but none of them were ever actually proven in a test and to my knowledge Yeager was the first. I do think there might be a chance that the Nazi's broke the sound barrier with the German built "ME 262" jet fighter and it's also possible that perhaps one or two allied planes unintentionally exceeded the speed of sound in an evasive diving maneuver, but neither of those examples were ever confirmed.

Reply #54 from Elemental Forums Top

As a creationist, I don't believe in the sound barrier. The science just isn't there. I believe in an ethereal plane, which it is a sin to break. (Christian Irony)

 

The great thing about religious warmongers is that their close mindedness prevents them from inventing weapons like this to fight their religious wars.

Reply #55 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Awesome weapon, and it's so nice to find British Aerospace (BAE Systems Ltd) at the forefront of this technology.

Reply #56 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 54

The great thing about religious warmongers is that their close mindedness prevents them from inventing weapons like this to fight their religious wars.

    

I'm sure a holy railgun is next on their list!

Reply #57 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 54
As a creationist, I don't believe in the sound barrier.

As a Star Wars fan i Don't believe in Jar Jar Binks. Doesn't mean he is not still there though...
;P
(a debate for another forum thought)

Reply #58 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Neilo, reply 57
As a creationist, I don't believe in the sound barrier.

The Sound Barrier.

 

Reply #59 from Elemental Forums Top

There are helicopters that break the sound barrier? :omg:

Reply #60 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting DsRaider, reply 59
There are helicopters that break the sound barrier?

No they don't really. It's just a photoshop.

Reply #61 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Rovert10, reply 60
No they don't really. It's just a photoshop.

There are people who feel a need to answer that? ....;p

Reply #62 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 58

Quoting Neilo, reply 57As a creationist, I don't believe in the sound barrier.

The Sound Barrier.

Hey, i'm just quoting someone else..... :hrmph:

Reply #63 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 61
Quoting Rovert10, reply 60No they don't really. It's just a photoshop.

There are people who feel a need to answer that? ....

Yes I do feel the need. :P

Reply #64 from Elemental Forums Top

Just channeling my ridiculously blinded mother here:

 

Anyone can make a picture. God would have put the sound barrier in the Bible if it was real. I know lots of scientists that say it doesn't exist. What did they do to you at that college?

 

"If we couldn't laugh at them, we'd have to cry for them." 

                                                              -Seanw3

Reply #65 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Rovert10, reply 63
Yes I do feel the need.

When the outright speed record attained by a helicopter is.....Sikorsky X2 unofficially 258 mph...at last calculation quite a bit below Mach....;p

Meanwhile the 'advancing' rotor tips are going to be nudging compression...;p

Reply #66 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 2
Wish they'd put those efforts into a slug of health, decency, human caring, peace, humanity and dignity to be fired to an altitude where it would spread out all over the globe...

Sounds like Hippy talk! Get 'im!!!! ;)

Reply #68 from WinCustomize Forums Top

The chopper did not break it and no it isn't 'shopped. I binged sonic booms and the article explains that you need not break the barrier for the effect to be seen. It has to do with moisture content in the air. The jet however did break it. There are videos where you can actually hear it.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sonic+boom&view=detail&mid=14312352ED1DF75AA8C414312352ED1DF75AA8C4&first=0&FORM=LKVR8

 

Reply #69 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Arnie has two...

Reply #70 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 68
The chopper did not break it and no it isn't 'shopped.

Um....'no' and 'yes'..... JAFOCHECK

Reply #71 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Well....if it is I didn't do it, lol, I pulled it off yahoo like that. And yes I did think it a bit unusual to see a chopper wrapped up in one. Its the leading edge of the main rotor blade tips that do the breaking. Wup wup.

Reply #72 from Elemental Forums Top

Guys, Germany had railguns in WWII that reached all the way across to the UK.  It's antique technology.  We never upgraded until now because the enemy hasn't.  The big difference now is the cannons are literally not miles long, more energy efficient and projectiles reach greater maximum speed.

Saddam also had a private contractor build him one that could easily reach Isreal.  Although that one was originally designed to cheaply launch payloads into space for NASA.  Sadly he never got the funding so had to seek other sources.

Reply #73 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting RogueCaptain, reply 72
Guys, Germany had railguns in WWII that reached all the way across to the UK.

I guess a big gun mounted on a railway 'carriage' could be called a 'rail gun'....sorta like painting "ncc1701" on the side of a V2 and call it the Starship Enterprise.....;p

Reply #75 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting RogueCaptain, reply 72
Guys, Germany had railguns in WWII that reached all the way across to the UK.  It's antique technology.  We never upgraded until now because the enemy hasn't.  The big difference now is the cannons are literally not miles long, more energy efficient and projectiles reach greater maximum speed.

Saddam also had a private contractor build him one that could easily reach Isreal.  Although that one was originally designed to cheaply launch payloads into space for NASA.  Sadly he never got the funding so had to seek other sources.

I think you are mixing up the German rail gun DORA with the our version.

DORA is called a rail gun bc you had to put it on a train.

The railgun and gaussgun are old concepts but impratical till now but even then we still have issues with them.