Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject:
US has developed a Railgun
Subject description: it's about time too.
Not sure if anyone posted this, but I like posting (sorta) new military news when it gets to me. (sorry this is about 3 weeks old)
Everyone remember railguns from games like TS or Quake? Well, forget what they used to look like, because the US has developed a new railgun. Railguns are capable of firing at least 50x as many rounds as a regular gun, but are still prone to overheating at the moment (as with any new gun). Now whether this is a good thing or not is still debateable, but hey, it looks like the US is advancing closer and closer to TS technology. Figure that.
Here's the link to the article on Military.com[/img] _________________ "Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything." QUICK_EDIT
Actually...Extremely old news...U.S. has had railguns for a while now, unless if this is actually getting deployed, then thats news.
However, Railguns also have a bit of a problem of requiring high amounts of maintenance if I remember correctly...after every shot, I think? _________________ ... QUICK_EDIT
yeah, the rails get fuxxed from the heat + kinetic stress from each shot and need to be replaced...
plus you can only fire Iron or Iron alloys (nothing else has enough magnetism) PLUS yoiu need huge generators and all sorts, meaning you might be able to fit one into the USS Iowa iff you fitted her with a nuclear reactor first, but you'd only get one shot... _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:56 pm Post subject:
Re: US has developed a Railgun
The US developed railguns years ago, problem is they're so huge you need a whole aircraft carrier sized ship to carry just one.
Quote:
Railguns are capable of firing at least 50x as many rounds as a regular gun, but are still prone to overheating at the moment (as with any new gun).
Yes, if by this you mean, having to be serviced after every single shot Railgun's are not for firing incredibly large amounts of shots, but firing single shots at tremendous velocity. QUICK_EDIT
Should've mentioned that as of 3 weeks ago they put a couple into production on a couple "projects", but yes you're right. I shouldn't have said "just invented" because it is just plain wrong. Though they are pretty portable now, much shorter and lighter than previous models.
As for the ROF, it was only a theoretical number, if they ever found a way that would cool the bars fast enough and no need for maintenance per shot. Thanks for the feedback though. _________________ "Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything." QUICK_EDIT
The drawback is indeed the power consumption... As soon as we can get a really efficient power source many of these technology will advance at a lightning pace. QUICK_EDIT
yeah, the rails get fuxxed from the heat + kinetic stress from each shot and need to be replaced...
plus you can only fire Iron or Iron alloys (nothing else has enough magnetism) PLUS yoiu need huge generators and all sorts, meaning you might be able to fit one into the USS Iowa iff you fitted her with a nuclear reactor first, but you'd only get one shot...
You, stop talking bull.
Railguns work with capacitators, think of them as batteries that are rechargeable and can unleash their full charge within a very short amount of time.
so theoretically you can hook this giant railgun up to your house electricity lines, and have it ready to go within a couple of weeks.
There is absolutely NO need for huge generators.
The railgun projectile can be any conductive metal, or mix of metals( armature ).
The rails get eroded by the projectile's friction as well as the magnetic power driving the projectile( Lorentz force ) having an additional side-effect, being incredible magnetic forces trying to push the rails apart.
These things combined tend to make the rails useless after one or more shots. The erosion depends entirely on the amount of power you put behind the projectile, as well as the materials chosen.
If you watch any videos of railguns firing, you'll see a "muzzle flash"
This is in fact the eroded metal from the projectile and the rails in a plasma state. _________________ Micro TS
Portable, no campaign, movies or music, just the engine and needed resources for skirmish and lan. QUICK_EDIT
Iron has the greatest magnetism and is one of the most useful, in theory you could shoot other stuff but you'd need more magnetism.
Tungsten has little/no magnetism and unless you mix it with a magnetic metal it would be useluss in a railgun.
And Judeau: What I really meant was to have any reasonable rate of fire you'd need a large power source as the capacitors would have to be charge in less time than a few weeks!. and the rails are screwed up by each shot and although I'm not 100% correct as to why at least I'm not saying "God did it! He doesn't want us to have railguns! All hail him! There are No atoms, only God!" or some other random crap.
I mentioned:
Heat, it is generated from friction and causes some of the metal to enter a plasma state, as you said.
Stress: caused by the extreme magnetic forces, also damages the rails.
So I'm not talking bull, it was just shortened. And it's been ages since I've read anything about them.
So please at least acknowledge I got some of it right! _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
What I really meant was to have any reasonable rate of fire you'd need a large power source as the capacitors would have to be charge in less time than a few weeks!
This happens all the time. I chucked a "Juduea" in one of my physics classes a while back.
Look at the concept of "Quantum Immortality" (associated with the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics), which basically states that me, and you are immortal, and we will always exist a set of universes where we have survived, even 400 to 1000 years from our birth. Wiki it for more info.
Anybody with a sound knowledge of thermodynamics knows this is not true, notably the third law, in regards to entropy. Life cannot exist in a universe like ours indefinitely (it's affecting the entropy).
But I assume the author thought, that it would take so long to get to a stage of such entropy, where life cannot exist, that it can be ignored.
Same goes for you methinks, you just thought it wasn't practical / worth considering. QUICK_EDIT
So please at least acknowledge I got some of it right!
The "but you'd only get one shot..." threw me off.
Considering it leads to the assumption you'd need a huge nuclear generator to just fire one shot.
Try to explain what you mean better next time, badly transferred information is useless.( Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler – Einstein ) _________________ Micro TS
Portable, no campaign, movies or music, just the engine and needed resources for skirmish and lan. QUICK_EDIT
Amen, I meant one shot before you have to "reload" a new railgun into the turret... _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
US has developed a Railgun
Railgun's are not for firing incredibly large amounts of shots, but firing single shots at tremendous velocity.
