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A railgun is a weapon that uses electromagnets to accelerate a projectile to very high speeds. The US Navy has been developing one for several years. Today they fired a shot at Mach 7 at a target 100 miles away:
An electromagnetic railgun offers a velocity previously unattainable in a conventional weapon, speeds that are incredibly powerful on their own. In fact, since the projectile doesn't have any explosives itself, it relies upon that kinetic energy to do damage. And at 11 a.m. today, the Navy produced a 33-megajoule firing -- more than three times the previous record set by the Navy in 2008.[...]
Ellis says the Navy has invested about $211 million in the program since 2005, since the railgun provides many significant advantages over convention weapons. For one thing, a railgun offers 2 to 3 times the velocity of a conventional big gun, so that it can hit its target within 6 minutes. By contrast, a guided cruise missile travels at subsonic speeds, meaning that the intended target could be gone by the time it reaches its destination.
Furthermore, current U.S. Navy guns can only reach targets about 13 miles away. The railgun being tested today could reach an enemy 100 miles away. And with current GPS guidance systems it could do so with pinpoint accuracy. The Navy hopes to eventually extend the range beyond 200 miles.
Link via DVICE | Photo: US Navy
Don't get me wrong, the technology is neat and I even target shoot as a hobby but we could be doing so much more.
Isn't that what the guided part is about? So it can follow the target?
It's all neat and sci-fi looking, but it's not a real weapon, and probably won't ever be. This is a huge waste of money-- $211 million in the past five years. The article reads like "please don't cut our funding" hype, a lot like what NASA's been doing lately.
A rail gun actually has enormous defensive value, especially for ships or as a ballistic missile defense.
Not during the test of that device shown in the video.
Projectiles drop downward as they get further away from any barrel (it is called gravity).
AND--- the earth curves, it is called being "round".
Marvelous concept, but that projectile ended up in the dirt a lot closer than 100 miles away.(My bet would be less than a mile at that muzzle angle)
derp: Mach 7 is 2 or 3 times faster than a modern rifle round.
JBSpesh: They have guided artillery rounds now that automatically correct their course. It's like a cross between a bullet and a missile.
Ducky: I think the writers for this site just misread the original piece. I think the original piece intended to say that the projectile could have gone 100 miles at the velocity it was at, not that it actually did.
We used to be loved and admired around the world. Now we are hated and despised by so many. Weapons like this will never make us safer.
That's what's called selective memory.
Also Mach 7 is the operating speed of a Scramjet so you could use this to launch one immediately to its normal operating speed since a scramjet cant operate at subsonic speeds.
You could probably use it to weld things, pile drive foundations, mine without explosives...
Lots of possibilities.
But this is only what they want us to see or believe...
Usually technology that is brought into the public eye is already several years out of date. Do you actually think they would show us the real weapon? NO! It would be a matter of national security.
Side note, how do I mount one of these to the roof of my beetle??