Watch the US Navy fire its game-changing hypersonic electromagnetic railgun

Business Insider ^ | 27 Mar, 2017 | Alex Lockie

[Nailbiter]

interesting links at #11

[reed13k]

I still think the Naval future is nuclear powered drone subs outfitted with launchable flying drones (either fire and forget or recoverable), cruise missles, and maybe one of these rail guns.

Someone at Norad periodically activates it to ensure all systems are go and operates the whole sub remotely and then additional crew is added to operate the additional launched drones.

[Tallguy]

I wasn’t arguing the point. CVN’s are still useful in low-intensity conflicts and possibly late-stages of major conflicts (after your opponents SIGINT birds are downed.

Question is: do you invest in force structure on the chance of some limited utility in a major war. Probably not. The “Ford” will be the last big-deck carrier class built here, and I suspect that it will be 2-ship class.

[archy]

The Navy is going to fit a rail gun aboard a naval vessel? What are they going to use, one of those Littoral combat designs?

[GreyHoundSailor]

Imagine a different ship with a conex box full of electronics spoofing the signature - I’ll bet that couldn’t be done.

[Does so]

Wrong kind of rail gun!

[archy]

Wrong kind of rail gun!

Darn. I was kind of looking forward to seeing how that first broadside was going to go.

[Does so]

'Suppose the US Navy could orient that rail gun to fire aft—and simultaneously fire and speed up!

;)