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Killer Drone Builder General Atomics Builds Killer Electromagnetic Rail Cannon (Awesome!)
military.com ^ | 5-10-10 | Unknown

Posted on 05/10/2010 9:15:31 PM PDT by Enterprise

"General Atomics is working on a cannon that can launch an airburst round at a rate of one per second. Each round dispenses sub-projectiles, so its equivalent to firing 14,000 rounds a minute, which is a higher rate of fire than the Phalanx close-in weapons system, says Tom Hurn, General Atomics director of advanced weapons systems."

(Excerpt) Read more at defensetech.org ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: firepower; military; railgun
I want one!
1 posted on 05/10/2010 9:15:31 PM PDT by Enterprise
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To: Enterprise

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2508309/posts


2 posted on 05/10/2010 9:19:15 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Wernher Von Braun)
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To: Enterprise

Do they have a carry version?


3 posted on 05/10/2010 9:20:10 PM PDT by Frantzie (McCain=Obama's friend. McCain/Graham = La Raza's Senators & Estefan-Rubio)
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To: Enterprise

My 12 ga. over/under can shoot 100,000 bb`s per minute


4 posted on 05/10/2010 9:20:23 PM PDT by bunkerhill7
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To: Enterprise

Looks very promising. Obama will kill it if it’s IN the budget — and refuse to buy it if it never was in the budget. Which means it will end up being sold to one of our allies — or stolen by one of our enemies...


5 posted on 05/10/2010 9:22:37 PM PDT by patriot preacher (To be a good American Citizen and a Christian IS NOT a contradiction. (www.mygration.blogspot.com))
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To: Enterprise

bflr


6 posted on 05/10/2010 9:23:07 PM PDT by Captain Beyond (The Hammer of the gods! (Just a cool line from a Led Zep song))
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To: Enterprise

Just got to make a way to generate that kind of amperage on a ship platform, and not alter the genetic makeup of the crew in the process.


7 posted on 05/10/2010 9:35:09 PM PDT by lurk
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To: lurk

For sure! Maybe that much amperage will create another Philadelphia experiment! (Not that I actually believe THAT story though)


8 posted on 05/10/2010 9:47:02 PM PDT by Enterprise (Dan Rather said Obama is so incompetent he couldn't sell watermelons.)
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To: Enterprise

aWESOME! let’s all keep quiet before the Kenyan Klown starts de-funding it.


9 posted on 05/10/2010 9:54:44 PM PDT by max americana
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To: lurk
Just got to make a way to generate that kind of amperage on a ship platform, and not alter the genetic makeup of the crew in the process.

Amperage doesn't mean much without knowing the voltage. But even if it's a large number of watts, it only lasts for 5 milliseconds. The power is discharged from a bank of capacitors, and recharged for each shot.

At a shot each second, the average amperage is 2.2 million amps * 0.005 seconds = 11,000 amps continuous (assuming no losses in charging, discharging, etc. -- which is unrealistic).

If the Zumwalt class destroyer is ever built, it will have 10 times the power available on current destroyers.

10 posted on 05/10/2010 10:12:06 PM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good WOMAN (Sgt. Kimberly Munley) with a gun)
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To: Enterprise

Jack Bauer could use one right about now. It’s far too time consuming to have to cut SIM cards out of the bellies of bad guys.


11 posted on 05/10/2010 10:16:19 PM PDT by montag813
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To: Frantzie

Frantzie wrote,
Do they have a carry version?

Doesn’t matter, it’ll be banned in D.C. anyway.


12 posted on 05/10/2010 10:31:32 PM PDT by jumperbones (The memories of a man in his old age, are the deeds of a man in his prime.)
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To: justlurking

General Atomics builds very large capacitors and the equipment to charge them. It’s right up their alley.


13 posted on 05/10/2010 10:34:02 PM PDT by Daniel II (I'm Jim Thompson, this is my brother Jimmy, and this is my other brother Jimmy)
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To: Enterprise
A real railgun weapon. Deployable this decade, they say.

Whew.

14 posted on 05/11/2010 12:18:24 AM PDT by TChad
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