Originally Posted By DAR This is from Fox News: DAHLGREN, Va. — A futuristic weapon getting a trial run by the Navy demonstrated its destructive power at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren. In the demonstration Thursday, engineers fired the electromagnetic railgun at what they said was a record power level: 10 megajoules. The previous railgun power-use record was about 9 megajoules of muzzle energy. Railguns use electromagnetic energy to launch projectiles long distances — more than 200 nautical miles. Because the railgun uses electricity and not gunpowder to fire projectiles, it eliminates the possibility of explosions on ships. The Navy hopes the railgun will eventually replace the standard 5-inch gun on its ships. The weapon isn't expected to be deployed until at least 2020. [A joule is defined as the energy needed to produce one watt of electricity for one second. The railgun tested Thursday actually has a capacity of 32 megajoules, but the Navy is slowly building up the energy level in a series of tests. That's a lot of power, but with a new series of electrically-powered ships coming on line, the Navy figures generating capacity will not be a problem. According to the Navy, the railgun, when fully developed, will be able to launch solid projectiles at Mach 5, or about 3,700 mph.] They get all the coolest toys.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 God only knows how much money we've spent to do something with electromagnets that we can already do with gunpowder...
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy They fail to mention that there is no ship currently in the Navy's fleet that is capable of generating the power required to make one of these guns work in practical application on a ship at sea.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Geez guys... with thinking like yours we would still be getting around using a horse and buggy. Sometimes you test new stuff before you have all the kinks worked out and even before you really have any idea how it will ultimately be used. Kind of like those crazy Wright boys, you know? Of course we are talking about the military here, and I get the feeling there is nothing they could ever do that would please you.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I like the term megajoules. Sounds almost like something you'd order at Starbucks. But "railgun" needs some work. It sounds positively old west. Needs a much cooler, more intimidating name.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Nice! But it needs some numbers in there as well. Quantum Torpedo XL750. Wait. I think I drove one of those back in the '70's. It had a vinyl top, whitewalls...
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA what's the difference between a mile...an a 'nautical' mile? Inquiring minds want to know.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy A nautical mile is 2000 yds, slightly longer than a statute mile (1,760 yds). The meaningfulness of a nautical mile is that it corresponds directly to 1-minute of latitude along any meridian -- handy when you are navigating at sea on a nautical chart.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan According to Wikipedia, a nautical mile is 6,067 feet, while a regular mile on land is 5,280.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 "Of course we are talking about the military here, and I get the feeling there is nothing they could ever do that would please you." Not at all - I actually do work with DoD, so I have great respect for the military. I just have a pretty good idea of the amounts of money that get spent on stuff like this. Still though, it does sound cool and could actually have some civilian/space applications, so at least something good might come out of this weapon.
