Railgun... (drool)

[Archae]

Me want... ;-)

For true sci-fi fans, any mention of a real-world rail gun will draw an instant, slightly audible gasp. Instead of relying on chemical propellants—such as gunpowder—a rail gun uses magnetic “rails” to launch a solid, nonexplosive projectile at incredible speed. Theoretically, rail guns would be able to precisely strike targets at extreme ranges, and would negate the risks associated with carrying around tons of explosive ammo. More to the point, they’re cool-sounding, just like lasers.

Which is why the news that BAE Systems has delivered a functional, 32-megajoule Electro-Magnetic Laboratory Rail Gun (32-MJ LRG) to the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va., is exciting. Installation of the laboratory launcher is currently underway, and according to BAE, this is the first step toward the Navy’s goal of developing a tactical 64-megajoule ship-mounted weapon.

The lab version doesn’t look particularly menacing—more like a long, belt-fed airport screening device than like a futuristic cannon—but the system will fire rounds at up to Mach 8, drawing on tremendous amounts of electricity to generate the current for each test shot. That, of course, is the problem with rail guns: Like lasers, they’re out of step with modern-day generators and capacitors. Eight and 9-megajoule rail guns have been fired before, but providing 3 million amps of power per shot has been a limitation. At 32 megajoules, this new system appears to be the most powerful rail gun ever built, and the Office of Naval Research is installing additional capacitors at the Dahlgren facility to support it. The planned 64-megajoule weapon, if it’s ever built, could require even more power—a staggering 6 million amps.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/4231461.html

[DarkTirade]

1. That was one of my favorates in Quake II... :P

[ChoralScholar]

3. There was a pretty cool railgun in "Red Faction" as well

the scope was thermal, so you could shoot people through walls....

[DS1]

5. rail + quad damage or strength rune = a mess

:thumbsup:

[DarkTirade]

7. Rain of giblets is the proper term. :)

And yes, that happened quite a lot...

Back in the early 2000s, I don't remember which year, but after christmas one year there was about a week when I didn't have to be at work or school so I hung out at my brothers' place most of that week. My brothers and their roommate had all three computers networked together, and Quake II installed on all three. :) The great thing was that we could actually talk across the house to each other while we played. Or if we listened carefully, sometimes we'd hear noises that would give away our opponant's position, like footsteps in water. And if you didn't catch the name on the screen of the person you killed, you just had to listen to hear who said, "Son of a..." :P

[ChoralScholar]

2. I guess I can trash my "Concealed Railgun" permit application.... EOM

[DarkTirade]

8. With the way technology's been shrinking lately, I'd hold onto it.

Wasn't that long ago that you'd need a room full of servers to get a couple gigabytes of storage. Now I've got a tiny little wafer of plastic barely bigger than my thumbnail that holds that much. :)

[ChoralScholar]

10. no joke... EOM

[DS1]

4. I've had a soft spot for the one in Quake2

such a fun little gibber

[Archae]

6. It would be called a KYAG weapon...

As in Kiss Your Ass Goodbye. :D

[darkstar]

9. Dahlgren...?

That's pretty sci-fi right there, i.e. Delaney novel of same name, right?

:hi:

[Aristus]

11. When I was in the Army. me and my fellow tanker science-fiction fans used to sit around

discussing the tank of the future. We agreed that a "hovertank" concept was pretty cool, and a rail-gun for main armament was a must. B-)

[Solon]

13. the recoil would be a bitch though. n/t

[krispos42]

12. The new ultra-capacitors being developed might help quite a bit, too

There is a lot of talk about them being used to power cars in place of nickel-metal-hydride or lithium-ion battery packs, but no reason i can think of they can't be used for artillery.

These things can work up to some seriously high velocities. The most I've heard about from a gun was hunting rifles chambered in .223 Winchester Super-Short Magnum. Handloaders loaded up their brass really hot, then fired a lighweight 40-grain bullet from it. The muzzle velocity of the bullet was so high that the high rate of spin would literally rip the bullets apart from centrifugal force as soon as they left the barrel!

IIRC, some handloaders were exceeding 4,300 feet per second with the .223 WSSM. Maximum theoretical muzzle velocity of a rifle is about 5,000 ft/s. This railgun is capable of nearly 9,000 ft/s.

Man, if they ever get that down to man-portable size... you could have 3 power levels for your small-caliber magrifle. About 2,700-3,000 ft/s for full-auto fire at close range, about 4,000 ft/s for medium-range aimed semi-automatic fire, and 5,000 ft/s for long-range sniper work.

And no brass casings or gunpowder to tote around, just bullets and a battery pack.