Posted on 04/11/2014 5:31:07 AM PDT by C19fan
A lethal new weapon that can fire a shell at seven times the speed of sound has been successfully tested on land. Described as Star Wars technology by researchers, such a device has belonged solely to the world of science fiction for decades. But now it is close to a reality with sea trials on a US warship planned in two years.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
5400mph is 7920 ft/sec.
So how does that compare to other projectile speeds?
16”/50 battle ship projectiles - ~2700 ft/sec
.30-06 rifle bullet - ~2900 ft/sec
Rheinmetall 120mm tank gun ~5700 ft/sec
WWI German ‘Paris Gun’ ~12,920 ft/sec
So this rail gun is producing a 40% increase on velocity, compared to very high velocity modern artillery pieces.
It is a significantly lower velocity (60%) than the WWI Paris gun, which fired a projectile 10 times as large.
I'm not saying it isn't a great achievement, it is, but it is not producing unheard of velocities. The big plus is that it is achieving the velocities in a progressive acceleration curve that allows the use of on-board guidance, and it manages a total size and cycle rate that is tactically useful.
This has the potential to be the biggest development in naval warfare since nuclear submarines. I could see the reintroduction of armored ships, sporting rail guns and laser CIWS defenses. They would go in harms way without air support and put everything the enemy had within 300-500 miles of the coast in jeopardy (next generation 14,000 fps, guns).
Unless they are kicking the shell up out of the atmosphere, which I don’t think it is capable of, the range will be shorter, especially if they are relying on kinetics over explosives.
Try getting hit with one. Heck, just stepping on it at night after the kids left it on the floor. Ouch!!!
Ask Jeff, he keeps up with stuff like this
The story I saw in NBC Monday night showed the explosive power of a 20 pound warhead fired at Mach 7. The engineer gloated this could hit an object 2,000 miles away w a velocity of 5,400mph and proper elevation.
Just sayn
You funny guy.
The last time I was on a Navy ship was 20 years ago. They carried antimissile defense systems then, I’m wondering how effective antiship missiles are now.
I’ve discovered that the material I was referencing in my #22 had a typo (probably due to metric conversion).
The German Paris Gun velocity was ‘only’ 5400 fps, which negates, the point I made about conventional velocities that have been reached.
My apologies.
I don’t have the math mojo to make the calculations anymore, but that seems rather optimistic, but I can’t prove it wrong.
This will be game changing technology for close-in anti-air warfare, anti-ship warfare, and fire support for ground forces.
To be accurate, doesn’t the gun have to remain motionless? Or is there a guidance system? Even with gyros and an active suspension system, I don’t see how this could be accurate at long range.
I'm not a rocket scientest but doesn't the curvature of the Earth come in at some point?
Once fielded, the only real defense will become placement of assets on reverse slopes, which will be impossible to hit (more so than standard artillery).
and the guy in the zodiac pulls alongside the USN ship detonates himself and blows a 40’ hole .....
We won't know for sure until they've seen actual use against hostile fire. Both missiles and land-based railguns (using stolen technology from us, you just know the Chinese and Russians have complete plans by now)
With regards to the railgun, if they've solved the issue of firing it wearing out the rails quickly, to the point where we can fire at least 100 rounds before the rails need replacement, this thing would be a game changer. A Mach 5+ projectile is harder to shoot down than a missile -- it will present challenges to enemy defensive systems comparable to hitting a ballistic missile warhead (and on the downside, will give a greater incentive for countries to develop systems which would then have the ability to defend against either railgun projectiles or warheads)
Using a trajectory calculator, if we neglect air resistance (which, I know, we can't, and it WILL be a big factor, but bear with me) a shell fired at a 45 degree angle at 7920 f/s (= 2414 m/s) would go 594 km, reaching a peak height of 148 km, which is above most of the atmosphere.
Nope. Air resistance will prevent that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.