Sadly, this railgun is a prime example of spending money on redundant "glory weapons" rather than taking care of the basics.Yes, a properly powered rail gun can shoot a projectile 200 clicks, but we've already got weapons that have ranges that long and longer.
What we don't have are sub-surface point defenses, but such basics don't get the glory.
Torpedoes, for instance, are technically obsolete. We have the computer power, the sensors, and the mortars/depth charges to accurately destroy every torpedo (even super-cavitating ones) that attacks an American ship.
But "technically" obsolete is a long way from *operationally* obsolete.
Because we haven't spent the money to automate mortars, depth-charge catapults, and grenade launchers into our sonar detection systems used by our fleet, old, slow, ancient torpedoes can still sink American surface ships.
This is pretty sad. Consider that back in WW2 a group of sailors standing on the side of a ship while throwing mere hand grenades overboard in the path of an approaching torpedo stood a better chance of not getting sunk than a modern DD-X destroyer with a hyper-fast railgun mounted on it.
Our sub-surface point defenses are worse today than back in WW2. We simply aren't bothering to defend against underwater torpedoes, even though we could.
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires