I recall reading elsewhere that these projectiles contain no explosive ordnance. Their destructive power comes from kinetic energy alone. As an Ordnanceman myself, this is interesting in that these projectiles could potentially be stored almost anywhere on a ship safely, rather than a handful of armored, floodable magazines. They could also be handled by many more crewmembers than just ordnance-qualified personnel.
I’m wondering what the total footprint is to support one rail gun (energy source, supporting components, etc). Can it be put on a tank for example?
Aw,c'mon...where's the fun in that? Stick a small nuke on each one and start firing them at Bejing,Moscow,Tehran,Pakistan,Caracas,Berkeley and DC
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.
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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.)
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.