Posted on 01/01/2019 6:48:45 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
The world was shocked when pictures began circulating early last year of a strange, large gun seemingly bolted to the bows of a Chinese amphibious assault ship.
It turned out to be the worlds first naval rail gun. Now its been pictured in operation.
A hazy image of the oddly-shaped ship with its oversized gun sailing in the open ocean has been released on Chinas tightly controlled social media networks.
It shows the vessel undergoing testing on the open ocean.
If true, it means Beijing has beaten the United States and the world to getting the next generation weapon into operational testing.
CHALLENGING CAPABILITY
The Type 072II Yuting-class tank landing ship Haiyangshan has been converted from its previous role to become an experimental testbed. This is likely because its open cargo bay is capable of holding the extensive array of batteries and generators necessary to power the next-generation weapon.
While still no warship, the cannon it carries is a fearsome sign of things to come.
It does away with the heat, pressure and residue of gunpowder-powered cannons.
Instead, it uses intense bursts of energy to build a focused magnetic field capable of flinging out cannon shells at many times the speed of sound.
This gives the gun much greater speed, range and accuracy than conventional cannons.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
I don’t know about that. It could be some advanced naval munition with extended range or something along those lines, but 155mm I think would be available.
If that is the case, it has to be something special.
USAF abandoned the laser.
What else is in development?
” Why would you want your enemies to know what you have in your arsenal?”
I think under “normal” circumstances, China would keep any military advances secret for the surprise effect they’d have in an actual war. However, if the last group of presidents since, say, Nixon, could be considered “normal” then Trump would be very abnormal. He is making China’s government feel threatened. The Chinese probably want to accomplish at least two tasks with their revelations. One is to reassure the Chinese people that their government is ready, willing and able to take on this new Trumpian/American menace. The other is to counter the “threat” that Trump, in their eyes, is making about China’s supposed local hegemony.
As an aside, I’d be willing to bet the technology they are revealing is not the technology they’d rely on if there was a sudden war with America. You can rest assured that if they have any hidden technological aces up their sleeves, they won’t tip us off before they use them. A former Chinese general recently published an opinion piece in a state propaganda organ. He said Chinese policy against the United States would be an opening decapitating (Pearl Harbor) attack. In a way that’s probably semi-official bluster. In another way, that is undoubtedly Chinese strategy. I am so glad we have Trump in office instead of a Lead-From-Behind metrosexual.
You only end up in a war if you lose deterrence. Under Obama we are lucky we didn’t end up in a war.
"This is likely because its open cargo bay is capable of holding the extensive array of batteries and generators necessary to power the next-generation weapon."
“CLGG had a capability of 200 NM, but suffered inconsistent performance operating with pure ballistic rounds.”
All purely ballistic “guns” suffer from the same shortcoming.
How to hit a moving target you cannot see, and which may zag at 30deg instead of zig at 15deg. AND the guided rounds are too small to take out the target when they do hit.
It would be foolish to retool a fleet around such a weapon.
Can’t hurt us. We’re INVINCIBLE, since we’re America!!!
In before the “ships are obsolete let’s scuttle the fleet” posters.
yeah the gun was designed for special ammo, but it proved to costly to buy in any quantity. so there is none. there are articles on this aluminum death trap on the drive-the war zone.
When the USS Belknap collided with the USS JFK a few months before I came aboard, the plane captain training me told me how they could see streams of molten aluminum from the superstructure running down the side of the hull hissing steam as they entered the water.
I wonder how they have changed (if they changed) after that.
I wonder how they have changed (if they changed) after that.
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