Navy Electromagnetic Rail Gun Fires GPS Controlled Bullets at 5,600 mph

Gadizmo ^ | 2 August 2012 | R.J. Huneke

[moonshot925]

What navy would not want a two-foot-long GPS-guided bullet that can be fired from a gargantuan cannon built right into a warship?

Did you know that we already have bullets that can strike an enemy thirty miles away?

This new government project hopes to utilize the current artillery and rail guns aboard US warships, with just a minor tweaking: fast (5,600 mph), GPS-controlled, twenty plus pound bullets that can travel potentially hundreds of miles and strike with pinpoint accuracy.

Announced on July 19, the new program is called Hyper Velocity Projectile, and plans to build on such successes as the 5” Mark 45 Mod guns that already reach farther than 30 miles.

Missiles could very well be going the extinct way of the dinosaurs, as these colossal bullets will be much cheaper and safer to produce in massive quantities.

[Vineyard]

I watched the video. Why is there an explosive flash if there are not explosive propellants?

The rail gun works by electromotive force ....consider the "gun barrel" to have a top electric rail and a bottom electric rail.

The projectile is conductive (aluminum slug) ...so that electric current can flow from one rail to the other rail - through the slug. Very high current flowing also generates a magnetic field...and the projectile moves because of the magnetic forces. (Think of a motor ...the rails are the stator - stationary, the slug is the moving part - a rotor on a motor...) As the projectile exits the rails - the electric current breaks apart ....drawing a very humongous spark!

Think of the slug having a half-million amps flowing...and suddenly the electric circuit is interrupted/broken. One heck of an arc!

[aimhigh]

Makes sense. Thanks.

[Elendur]

these projectiles could potentially be stored almost anywhere on a ship safely, rather than a handful of armored, floodable magazines.
= = =
This reintroduces the BB battleship as a naval combatant.
///
great points!
the weight savings from armored magazines,
would also help smaller vessels, and even tanks,
if the gun was small enough to fit.
...oddly, the ammo instead of needing protection,
could actually be stored in a way, to give additional protection to crew compartments, etc.
(especially if the projectiles are depleted uranium.)

[SampleMan]

...oddly, the ammo instead of needing protection, could actually be stored in a way, to give additional protection to crew compartments, etc.

Good point.

[GATOR NAVY]

In earlier wars large caliber AP ammo often went through lightly armored ships without even exploding-if the shells hit nothing substantial enough to set off the fuse they just left entry and exit holes with some damage in between. At these velocities wouldn’t this kind of projectile do the same thing if it hit nothing that could stop it? They would probably be awesome against a bunker though.

[Doomonyou]

This will change deer hunting forever.

LOL! I thought the same thing!