US Navy's experimental railgun [WSJ]

[nevets88]

It's scary what this weapon is capable of, but have read about these things in science fiction novels, don't really keep up w/military technology to know this is was actually a real thing. The way it's fired is pretty interesting nonetheless, that's some massive electric power required.

Quote

Wires splay out the back of the railgun, which requires a power plant that generates 25 megawatts—enough electricity to power 18,750 homes.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-first-look-at-americas-supergun-1464359194

[newtogolf]

High tech cannon that accelerates the projectile as progresses through the tube.  Great weapon but seems highly dependent on technology with many points of failure.  I'm curious what the real delta is in the cost of a rail gun plus projectiles versus the traditional missles the Navy currently uses.  

[natureboy]

4 hours ago, newtogolf said:

High tech cannon that accelerates the projectile as progresses through the tube.  Great weapon but seems highly dependent on technology with many points of failure.  I'm curious what the real delta is in the cost of a rail gun plus projectiles versus the traditional missles the Navy currently uses.  

The article notes a few - volume of potential targets engaged with more rounds carried (though I expect the batteries / capacitors that this beast will need will take up some of that room), bunker busting, very long range, flatter trajectories, smart terminal guidance, potential for use against asymmetric targets with less collateral damage.

It does sound wicked costly though, and I think practical anti-missile targeting capability is probably a ways off.

Edited May 29, 2016 by natureboy

[Papa Steve 55]

You hope this is not an example of generals fighting the last war. I think the radicalized individual with a vest bomb or a hacker with a laptop will be the targets in the next war, not a battleship. 

[Strandly]

On 5/29/2016 at 0:46 PM, newtogolf said:

High tech cannon that accelerates the projectile as progresses through the tube.  Great weapon but seems highly dependent on technology with many points of failure.  I'm curious what the real delta is in the cost of a rail gun plus projectiles versus the traditional missles the Navy currently uses.  

From what I've read in the past the rail gun is absolutely dirt cheap to fire.  Since the ships are run by nuclear reactors the power is already there and the ammo is just a big metal slug.  The price comparison I remember seeing was something like $60,000 for a conventional chemical missile versus a couple dollars of electricity for the rail gun.  Seems hard to believe but this was a couple years ago and I wouldn't be surprised if the authors were pulling numbers out of the sky.

[ZappyAd]

Great slo mo camera work to track the projectile!

Makes you wonder how big their target range is - its one thing golf balls going off the end of the range or through a net at the back but that thing didn't look like anything was going to slow it down for a good few miles!