Navy Tests Incredible Sci-Fi Weapon

[scotto]

LiveScience.com Fri Feb 1, 12:51 PM ET

The U.S. Navy yesterday test fired an incredibly powerful new big gun designed to replace conventional weaponry aboard ships. Sci-fi fans will recognize its awesome power and futuristic technology.

The big gun uses electromagnetic energy instead of explosive chemical propellants to fire a projectile farther and faster. The railgun, as it is called, will ultimately fire a projectile more than 230 miles (370 kilometers) with a muzzle velocity seven times the speed of sound (Mach 7) and a velocity of Mach 5 at impact.

The test-firing, captured on video, took place Jan. 31 in Dahlgren, Va., and Navy officials called it the "world's most powerful electromagnetic railgun."

The Navy's current MK 45 five-inch gun, by contrast, has a range of less than 23 miles (37 kilometers).

The railgun has been a featured weapon in many science fiction universes, such as the new "Battlestar Galactic" series. It has also achieved newfound popularity among the 20-something-and-under generation for its devastating ability to instantaneously shoot a "slug" through walls and through multiple enemies in video games such as the "Quake" series of first person shooters.

The Navy's motivation? Simple destruction.

The railgun's high-velocity projectile will destroy targets with sheer kinetic energy rather than with conventional explosives.

"I never ever want to see a Sailor or Marine in a fair fight. I always want them to have the advantage," said Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead. "We should never lose sight of always looking for the next big thing, always looking to make our capability better, more effective than what anyone else can put on the battlefield."

The railgun's lack of explosives means ships would be safer, said Elizabeth D'Andrea, Electromagnetic Railgun Program Manager.

The Navy's goal is to demonstrate a full-capability prototype by 2018.

* Video: Navy Tests Big Gun

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DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 28, 2007) Particle debris ignites as a test slug exits the Office of Naval Research 32 MJ (megajoules) Electromagnetic Railgun aboratory launcher during a test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. U.S. Navy photo John F. Williams


DAHLGREN, Va. (Jan. 28, 2007) A test slug impacts the target after being fired from the Office of Naval Research 32 MJ (megajoule) Electromagnetic Railgun laboratory launcher during a test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. U.S. Navy photo John F. Williams

[herbstin]

Awesome toy. Still a little long to be practical, I think.

Years ago, there was one built in a laboratory in about .22 Cal. We had some lively discussions about how cool a rail gun would be in a tank.

[Anth]

This is where it will start, folks, in the Navy. What a lot of people don't realise is that the railguns you see in games such as Unreal Tournament, Quake etc is that these things require a lot of power and you would probably need a trailer full of batteries to power a railgun the size of an M16 (at least at this stage in the technology).

The Navy have the advantage - they have (in a lot of cases) nuclear powerplants to hook into and plenty of space for the components.

Give it a few years though and you might start seeing them in the design stages for tanks (unless the USA follows the UK with making everything air transportable!).