Rail Gun Goodness From Every Angle

c3k said:
Space based? Recoil effects would be interesting...
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Yes, the projectile being ejected by the magnetic fields is interesting. You don't need a gun this large either, just pierce a hull and it's game over for it. This is something a laser will have a harder time doing, burning through radiation plates, or even an impact triggered ballistic weapon. At the very least you'd be playing ping pong with each other bouncing stuff off each other and causing everyone to loose course.
 
Burticus said:
So why does it still sound like a gunshot? It's electrically propelled, shouldn't it be quiet (er)? Or are we hearing a sonic boom from the sabot round?

I wonder what the sabots are made of. I hope it's not something stupid/toxic like DU

These are still in the test phase. I could envision them getting the size down to something reasonable and seeing some actual use in 10-20 years, I guess.
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The gunshot like sound is due to the expansion of the super heated plasma as it leaves the confinement of the barrel. Sabots tend to be made of lightweight non-ferrous materials, aluminum IIRC. Size wise they are already reasonable. The primary issue currently is barrel longevity. Right now they are in the double digits on barrel life and they need to get that to the upper triple digits for actual deployment.
 
rgraze911 said:
I was not a FC nothing fancy like that. I was just a fireman, an A -Ganger working in the forward evaporator flats. Which was located right by forward CIC. I just have great admiration for my ship and wanted to know as much as I could. Yes they do carry a lot of armor. The torpedo belt had 16" of armor plus flooded satellite tanks. If something like what happened to the Cole happened to my ship it probably would have just left a burn mark the deck apes would have to paint over. Plus the ship was actually designed to still be battle effective even split in half.
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Crixus said:
I had serious admiration for those ships. Lucky you for being able to sail on one.
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I got to visit the USS North Carolina in December 2016. While I couldn't recommend a trip to North Carolina, I can't say enough great things abut the USS North Carolina. Following the tour path, you go through almost every compartment of the entire battleship. You see those tremendously thick armor walls around the turret loading system that goes all 5 stories down to the keel. It was an exceptional way to spend the morning/afternoon. Give yourself ~3 hours if you are able bodied and it is not crowded. Longer if you expect to have trouble or read a lot.
 
MV75 said:
Yes, the projectile being ejected by the magnetic fields is interesting. You don't need a gun this large either, just pierce a hull and it's game over for it. This is something a laser will have a harder time doing, burning through radiation plates, or even an impact triggered ballistic weapon. At the very least you'd be playing ping pong with each other bouncing stuff off each other and causing everyone to loose course.
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The interesting thing here is that all the derbies and spent projectiles will become a tremendous hazard in orbit. We're potentially one significant space based engagement away from making earth orbit too dangerous to pass through or park satellites.
 
MV75 said:
Big stationary cannon, didn't they have those already down pat a few hundred years ago? Plus they were pretty basic and didn't need a billion jiggawatts of power.

Anyway the only reason for this, space combat.
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Naaa, it's a propulsion system in disguise.

Lighten that ridiculously oversized chassis and replacing it with a light space vehicle air frame. Then use solid slug mass to "shoot yourself" to your destination (y) (n) :unsure:
 
chili dog said:
Well there will definitely be the sonic boom from the round. I would also imagine that since they're discharging a massive amount of electricity it could sound like a lightning bolt.
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A sonic boom huh ?

You know, before I went to Korea in 1982 I thought I had heard sonic booms. Then I got to Korean and found out some booms are bigger than other booms.

The SR-71 Blackbirds used to fly over there and when they did, not only did you hear a boom like you have never heard before, you heard a sound crash like a wave across the city as every window and door rattled in their frames from one side of the city rolling acrossed to the other. It was unreal the first time I heard that.
 
There are anti-aircraft railgun/coilgun arrays which essentially cover the sky with ferromagnetic projectiles against aircraft/ballistic missiles. This stuff is not going nowhere. It's already in use.
The Active Denial System is a child project and it too is already live.
I wish all the luck in the nerd world to the US for traversing this interesting path.
 
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