New Railgun Tests

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Fox News (lol) said:
DAHLGREN, Va. — A futuristic weapon getting a trial run by the Navy demonstrated its destructive power at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren.

In the demonstration Thursday, engineers fired the electromagnetic railgun at what they said was a record power level: 10 megajoules.

The previous railgun power-use record was about 9 megajoules of muzzle energy.
Railguns use electromagnetic energy to launch projectiles long distances — more than 200 nautical miles.

Because the railgun uses electricity and not gunpowder to fire projectiles, it eliminates the possibility of explosions on ships.

The Navy hopes the railgun will eventually replace the standard 5-inch gun on its ships. The weapon isn't expected to be deployed until at least 2020.

[A joule is defined as the energy needed to produce one watt of electricity for one second.

The railgun tested Thursday actually has a capacity of 32 megajoules, but the Navy is slowly building up the energy level in a series of tests.

That's a lot of power, but with a new series of electrically-powered ships coming on line, the Navy figures generating capacity will not be a problem.

According to the Navy, the railgun, when fully developed, will be able to launch solid projectiles at Mach 5, or about 3,700
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,327205,00.html

There's video footage of it being fired, so have fun with that.
 
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So it was true... :/


Well, i would be lying if i'd say that isn't awesome.
 
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Next we will get disc launchers, blaster, chain guns, and some jet packs. Maybe some generators wouldn't hurt either... o_O
 
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You didn't get the hint. *coughbestonlinegamecough*
 
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Hehehe...A character in my friend's fanfic has small railguns in a compartment in her arms...Just showed him this...He loved it :D
 
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Next we will get disc launchers, blaster, chain guns, and some jet packs. Maybe some generators wouldn't hurt either... o_O
*cough*Tribes?*cough*

Yeah this technology has been around for a while. Last I checked, the major problem was the damage it did to the rails to fire the gun. A few years ago, they showed that it wasn't near practical as the damage meant the rails would need to be repalced a lot.
 
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DO WANT.

Pimp My Ride 2, here we come!
 
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Am I the only one that doesn't see the connection between the railguns I know (DM type railguns) and this one that just fires a shell like any other gun?
 
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Pfft. When my portal gun is complete, all naval warfare will be useless.
You're strong old one, but don't be too confident in your technologies, VVU has it's eye on you.

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Seriously though, sounds pretty awesome.
 
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I wonder how much power such a gun would eat up?
 
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On the Annihilatrix.
If this thing uses nothing but electro-magnetics, then why is there a cloud of what appears to be fire behind the projectile? And better yet.. why does it explode when it hits? I thought it was nothing but a solid chunk of iron that was being shot?
 
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If this thing uses nothing but electro-magnetics, then why is there a cloud of what appears to be fire behind the projectile? And better yet.. why does it explode when it hits? I thought it was nothing but a solid chunk of iron that was being shot?
I think it explodes because of the heat it generates.

Comets explode when they impact, because of their speed and heat.

I think this might be similar.
 
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it basically vaporizes the material it hits. As far as I know.
Wiki might know more about it ^^
 
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wait, so they fired a slug that small, and it took 20,000,000 joules, or watts/second to fire it?

that's ****ing rediculous. by the time it reached it's intended target, it would just bounce off harmlessly.
 
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What's your logic for it "bouncing off harmlessly"? Anything fired at that velocity, capable of remaining solid, would be devastating upon impact.
 
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It'd blow down the Notre Dame with one shot, methinks.

They fire small slugs, because even they can have devastating effects at such high speeds.
 

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