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INTEREST: A Certain Actual Railgun - US Navy Shows Off Their Newest Weapon


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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 8:09 pm Reply with quote
Tough to beat simple kinetic energy.
Reference
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress to grasp the tactical advantage of living at the top of a gravity well. It is this idea taken to a bit higher of a level.
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 8:56 pm Reply with quote
BiriBiri
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:08 pm Reply with quote
I love those things...nice to see it's not science fiction anymore. Cool
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Holypickles



Joined: 08 May 2012
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:25 pm Reply with quote
soon gundams soon
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:25 pm Reply with quote
If they've made this public, imagine the stuff they have still under wraps.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5600
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:34 pm Reply with quote
Kruszer wrote:
I love those things...nice to see it's not science fiction anymore. Cool
It hasn't been for over a decade, at least. This is just a much better version of the ones they've had forever.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15604
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:28 pm Reply with quote
Ha ha, you said rear admiral.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7424
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:39 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, railguns aren't knew, they're just getting better. Heck, back in 1993 Transformers G2 Megatron used a railgun (made by Cobra).

Emerje
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bglassbrook



Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Posts: 1244
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 11:46 pm Reply with quote
So the ammo is a mere 25k apiece... okay. How about the launcher, can we squeeze tens (or hundreds) of millions out of that? What about the power source and capacitors necessary to generate the massive electrical pulse?

The other nice thing about missiles is they can take all sorts of paths, depending on the complexity of design and control capabilities. Even the dumbest ones can still be fired in parabolic arcs. Railguns come in one flavor: straight line, which makes friendly fire and other such targeting logistics much more important.

Not that it wouldn't make for a fun toy to swat down incoming airborne threats or sink legacy ships like a porcupine in a balloon animal zoo.
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Tenebrae



Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 492
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:25 am Reply with quote
bglassbrook wrote:
What about the power source and capacitors necessary to generate the massive electrical pulse?

System needs 25 megawatts; currently most of their navy's destroyers can at most offer it 9. With that wattage, the range is ~180km.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14893
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:35 am Reply with quote
That's a nice development, but this may be more revolutionary:

"U.S. Navy converting seawater into fuel"

  • The U.S. Navy believes it has finally worked out the solution to a problem that has intrigued scientists for decades: how to take seawater and use it as fuel.

    The development of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel is being hailed as “a game-changer” because it would significantly shorten the supply chain, a weak link that makes any force easier to attack.

    The U.S. has a fleet of 15 military oil tankers, and only aircraft carriers and some submarines are equipped with nuclear propulsion.

    All other vessels must frequently abandon their mission for a few hours to navigate in parallel with the tanker, a delicate operation, especially in bad weather.

    The ultimate goal is to eventually get away from the dependence on oil altogether, which would also mean the navy is no longer hostage to potential shortages of oil or fluctuations in its cost.

    U.S. experts have found out how to extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas from seawater.

    Then, using a catalytic converter, they transformed them into a fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. They hope the fuel will not only be able to power ships, but also planes.

    That means instead of relying on tankers, ships will be able to produce fuel at sea.

    The predicted cost of jet fuel using the technology is in the range of three to six dollars per gallon, say experts at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, who have already flown a model airplane with fuel produced from seawater.

    A crucial benefit, says Collum, is that the fuel can be used in the same engines already fitted in ships and aircraft.

    “If you don’t want to re-engineer every ship, every type of engine, every aircraft, that’s why we need what we call drop-in replacement fuels that look, smell and essentially are the same as any kind of petroleum-based fuels.”

    Drawbacks? Only one, it seems: researchers warn it will be at least a decade before US ships are able to produce their own fuel on board.


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jr240483



Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 4470
Location: New York City,New York,USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:03 am Reply with quote
Holypickles wrote:
soon gundams soon


Not gonna happen.

though most of us saw that same railgun from the 2nd transformers movie.

However this is also can become a bad thing. cause if they can perfect that thing, i am praying to god they dont try a shadow moses (Metal Gear Solid ) and try to create a nuke warhead that can be fired off a railgun like a projectile. if that happens, it will be the start of a 2nd cold war and possibly , WWIII
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ajr



Joined: 29 Nov 2010
Posts: 465
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 3:48 am Reply with quote
If the JSDF acquires one, I kind of hope they call it Mikoto-chan Smile

One of the really nice things about using railguns on ships is the lack of explosives involved. Having a ship's ammunition blow up is a quick way to kill hundreds of people, and from a tactical perspective, this is a pretty effective way to solve concerns that your munitions might double-cross you due to shenanigans (hacking or buried biases built-in via suppliers).
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6172
Location: USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:33 am Reply with quote
KH91 wrote:
BiriBiri


Took the words out of mouth. I was going to say they should name it "biribiri".
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VanGosroth



Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 299
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 10:45 am Reply with quote
Chrno2 wrote:
KH91 wrote:
BiriBiri


Took the words out of mouth. I was going to say they should name it "biribiri".


Time to start a white house petition to officially nickname it.
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