Debut of Navy railgun

D

DaleA

New member
We’ve discussed railguns before but I thought I’d bring it up again as the Navy has had a ‘public debut’ of the thing:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ctromagnetic-rail-gun-makes-its-public-debut/

The article says the thing throws projectiles at roughly 7800 fps and can hit a target 110 miles away…

I’ll give you the 7800 fps but I kind of wonder at the range. Seems hitting something at that range with an unguided projectile might be problematic.

They also did not give its rate of fire or the projectile weight. Another article said it will begin tests at sea in 2016.

The article below also has a video but I think it’s the same video that has been posted here before:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/06/the-u-s-navys-new-railgun-can-fire-projectiles-up-to-mach-7-video/

Looks like the Navy is getting the cool toys.
 
Laser gun on USS Ponce

I did not realize it but the US has actually deployed a laser gun on the USS Ponce which is operating in the Persian Gulf. The thing has been deployed for a few months and seems to be working out okay.

The article mentions that it took a while to get the rules of engagement worked out but that has been done and the laser could be used for real if needed.

The article says the price per shot is around 59 cents.

(Plus it gets around the powder shortage for conventional cannon...:D)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...s-new-laser-gun-works-at-sea/?tid=ptv_rellink

Looks like the Navy is getting the cool toys.
 
Worked on this BAE project years ago, a 2" test gun, a 8" production gun which will shoot a 300 pound projectile at 8250 fps with maximum electrical charge.
It will replace the gun system as designed and mounted in the Zumwalt series of destroyers. Firing rate at max is 10 rounds per minute. Projectile will be GPS guided when the electrics are capable of surviving the initial acceleration rate.
 
dalea said:
Seems hitting something at that range with an unguided projectile might be problematic.
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I'd say that depends on the size of the target.

About 15 years ago I was part of a program doing tests on unguided missiles. We hit our target every time with the unguided projectile at a range of much further than 110 miles.

Since we were launching from a small island and our target was the Pacific ocean, I didn't consider it much of a challenge.
 
If something like this ever became available for small arms you long range enthusiasts would be in heaven. Heck, you might even get that deer without even leaving your backyard. :)
 
Impressive....I wonder if it is purely kinetic, or a HE round?
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An 8" diameter projectile? Weighing several hundred pounds, no doubt? Moving that fast? Who needs chemical explosives?

I imagine the KE of that projectile would be pretty explosive all by it's ownself.
 
"Bella
Senior Member

Join Date: July 6, 2009
Posts: 333
If something like this ever became available for small arms you long range enthusiasts would be in heaven. Heck, you might even get that deer without even leaving your backyard. "
=================================================

I can already "get my deer without even leaving" my backyard.
(Except for the fact that the Wife likes her deer.)
 
Just Wondering ???

A question that came to mind, is who on the ship, is going to operate and maintain it? I can think of three to four possible groups/gangs that might. One could certainly be "the Gunner's Mates. Just wondering ..... :confused:

Be Safe !!!
 
Was it not the Swedish that hit a Volvo at 90 miles with there heavy artilery ( unguided ) on the History channel .
There are simi guided projectiles now that can be fired from regular artiliry maby they are useing these with the rail gun .
Some say our laser weapons are the reason North Korean ICBMs keep failing after lift off during test .
 
oh sure, and people worry about overpenetration NOW!??
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That just means that some enterprising individual with a great imagination will develop HD ammunition for the gun.
Small business gets bought out by large corporation and American capitalism once again comes to the rescue.
 
There are simi guided projectiles now that can be fired from regular artiliry
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The M712 Copperhead munition has been around since the 1980's ....... they predate the internet ....... just sayin' .....
 
I have little doubt these things will be guided, but the guidance system itself is just as interesting, maybe morso.
The target-accurate guidance calculations and control surface deflections on a stabilized rotating projectile moving at Mach 7 is probably just as difficult to develop as the rail gun itself.
It is an incredibly long list of variables that'll need to be constantly updated extremely fast, then move a control surface to correct path and that creates a little bit of drag, recalculate, repeat.
This is a whole lot different than a GPS guided cruise missile or even a Mach 6 radar guided/heat seeking surface-to-air missile.

These rail guns are syfy becoming reality within my lifetime, really cool stuff... size one way up and we can start launching materials to the moon for our first Lunar space station, from which much larger projects/ships could launch.
Need a wrench or some other hardware? Toss it in the launcher and a Lunar orbiting drone will catch and bring it to the station on the surface.
 
Although it was strictly conventional, the Germans employed a piece of railway artillery in WWI that had a range of 75 miles. It wasn't particularly accurate but the target was Paris and every shot was right on target. It could be called a terror weapon in that the effect was neither tactical nor strategic.

How much power do you suppose an electromagnetic cannon would require to function?

There was also a decidedly unconventional weapon employed during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. The propellant was compressed air and the projectile was dynamite, which is otherwise not used for military purposes.
 
How much power do you suppose an electromagnetic cannon would require to function
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Depends on how big it is, how heavy the projectile, and how fast you want it to be ready to fire a second shot.
At this point its easy to assume it'll be powered by a nuclear ship when its put into service...?

I doubt it'll draw its power directly on-demand for the shot, instead it'll store energy in some type of capacitors prior to the shot, then recharge for the second.

I'm curious how long it'll take for a hand-held version to show up, powered by a backpack full of lipo batteries?
Perhaps a truck mounted version for tank killing?
 
I'd like to know how they get rid of that much heat in the windings.

The only real limiter to the power a electic motor can output is its ability to disipate and tolerate heat before the insulation melts off of the wire and the magnets lose their magnetism.
 
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