Custom Search

Friday, February 01, 2008

US Navy Tests High-Powered Electromagnetic Railgun

Trash Dispatch.com: Astonishing! …I knew the U.S. Government was working on this. And now here it is! From digg, and the FoxNews Network, and the Military-

Navy Tests High-Powered Electromagnetic RailgunEraser Rail-Gun

FoxNews- In the demonstration Thursday, engineers fired the electromagnetic railgun at what they said was a record power level: 10 megajoules. …According to the Navy, the railgun, when fully developed, will be able to launch solid projectiles at Mach 5, or about 3,700 mph.

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.Actual Railgun test

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.

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 mph.

read more | digg story


TrashDispatch: The First time I saw this gun, was in Arnold’s blockbuster movie, “Eraser”. Fantastic! Of course, it was only Fantasy back then. But now it seems, the “Rail-Gun” has become a Reality!

The Cool thing about the Rail-Gun is that, because it fires Solid Metal Projectiles, there will be no need to make cartridges.

Watch the Railgun Test, via U.S. Military Video.

Digg this

0 comments:

Modified by Blogcrowds