Posted on 02/06/2008 5:48:28 AM PST by jmcenanly
Hat tip to reader Scott: the U.S. Navy has demonstrated World's Most Powerful Electromagnetic rail gun (EMRG) at 10.64 Megajoules
An electromagnetic catapult, or railgun, is on track for deployment on U.S. warships around 2012, according to the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The Navy's latest test made history with the world's fastest muzzle velocity of 5,637 miles per hour--generating a record 10.6 megajoules of energy (1 joule = 1 watt-second).
If the Navy decides to deploy the railgun, it plans to have a final design in place for approval by 2012. Initial prototypes will probably shoot a single projectile, but plans for rapid-fire versions are already on the drawing board.
The final design specification calls for a muzzle velocity of 5,760 mph for a weapon that is capable of launching a projectile in a parabolic ballistic path 94 miles high. It must strike targets within six minutes at 3,840 mph.
Initial tests showed that targets can be obliterated by the kinetic force of the impact with pinpoint accuracy without shrapnel, which is the most common cause of collateral damage when using high-explosive munitions.
(Excerpt) Read more at nextbigfuture.com ...
Not for deployment by 2012.
Arnie should get residuals for this one. Help bail out Kalifornia.
cool...
google ‘rail gun’ if you want to see learn about this but it is basically a huge magnet
Look out Iran!
Will be cancelled here, but deployed by Chicoms after Hillary sells them the plans for cash to fight Obama.
A question for a physicist: I saw a video of this. Even though it uses no chemical propellants, the gun bursts into flames as the projectile is discharged from the gun. Why? Is it simply going so fast that it’s like a space capsule re-entering the atmosphere?
Thanks for the post
Will it work better for fishing than the DuPont Spinner?
Mach 7 velocity. This has the potential of launching satellites into space, no?
Probably related to friction in the rails or atmosphere...they use an aluminum sabot to launch with and it has a low flash point and heat to mass coefficient.
No, not fast enough to reach escape velocity, that’s approx 17,000 mph
There is another application for this. The Taiwan Strait is about 100 miles wide. A land-based array of these weapons could destroy the Red invasion fleet as it sat in port on the other side of the Strait.
When the projectile leaves the "muzzle" of the railgun, a very powerful arc is discharged behind it. I believe that accounts for the flames you see.
Depends upon the weight of the object launched, doesn't it? I was thinking along the lines of near-earth lightweight sattys...the speed of sound at sea level is approximately 340 meters/second and this booger, according to the Navy, will reach speeds of 3,000 m/s. WOW! Think it was a Dr. Bull who had the idea of putting space vehicles into orbit using high-powered cannons...he was the one that designed the Iraqi long-range rifle that was supposed to fire on Israel. He was supposedly taken out by the Israeli secret police.
I wonder what the EMP signiture is.
Orbital velocity does not depend on weight or mass, its one of those physics things. Basically an orbit is define by its altitued, and then you need a certain speed to maintain it there. Thats a good thing really, if not, then you would have objects in the same orbit moving at different speeds, and that would cause havoc.
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