Navy 'Rail Gun' On Track; Industry Tests Set For This Month

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Navy 'Rail Gun' On Track; Industry Tests Set For This Month
WASHINGTON: The Navy's weapon of the future will take one step closer to reality this month, as service officials prepare to test fire the first industry-built prototype of its fabled Railgun.

ONR testers will fire off a BAE Systems-built version of the weapon next week at the Navy's surface warfare center in Dahlgren, VA., according to Roger Ellis, head of the Railgun program at the Office of Naval Research's Air Warfare and Weapons department. Another rail gun variant built by defense firm General Atomics will arrive at Dahlgren sometime in April for testing, a service spokesman said. There is no word when Raytheon is expected to begin testing their rail gun variant. The Navy awarded the company a $10 million deal late last month to begin prototype work on the next-generation weapon. Live fire testing for both industry prototypes is scheduled to last for two months, Ellis said.

The Railgun is designed to shoot heavy artillery rounds usually fired by the batteries of heavy guns aboard U.S. warships. The difference is that instead of gunpowder, these rounds are propelled through a series of electromagnets lining the inside of the gun's barrel. The charge from the electromagnets propel the round -- likely the standard 155mm shell fielded by American destroyers -- through the barrel at upwards of Mach 7, once fully developed.

(Video at URL above.)

[Svartalf]

Is that the one that's supposed to have over 100 miles effective range?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Is that the one that's supposed to have over 100 miles effective range?

I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you first.

[drl2]

Is that the one that's supposed to have over 100 miles effective range?

I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you first.

If Svartalf was about 100 miles away, would you theoretically be able to do so with one of those newfangled rail guns?

[Svartalf]

I doubt you can be precise at such a range with an unguided fire weapon.

[Gallstones]

I wish I was a weapons test firer.

[Svartalf]

Who doesn't?

[Mallardz]

Is that the one that's supposed to have over 100 miles effective range?

I do believe it's range exceeds that.

[Mallardz]

The U.S. Navy says its railgun will be capable of launching projectiles at velocities of 4,500 to 5,600 mph (7,242 - 9,012 km/h).

Navy planners are initially targeting a 50 to 100-nautical mile (57 to 115 mile/92 to 185 km) range, with a planned expansion up to 220 nautical miles (253 mile/407 km).

Sourced here; Gizmag

[Svartalf]

Is that the one that's supposed to have over 100 miles effective range?

I do believe it's range exceeds that.

So do I, but I don't remember where I saw the specifics, and didn't want to go overboard.

[Atheist-Lite]

What happens if you fire one straight upwards with a little gunpowder for good measure and some astronauts on board the shell?

[Atheist-Lite]

What happens if you fire one straight upwards with a little gunpowder for good measure and some astronauts on board the shell?

I've been in the clone wars now.

[Mallardz]

What happens if you fire one straight upwards with a little gunpowder for good measure and some astronauts on board the shell?

Certainly cheaper than NASAs method.

[Seth]

I doubt you can be precise at such a range with an unguided fire weapon.

Depends on what you mean by "precise." Generally, off-shore artillery are not precision weapons to begin with. But, if they can develop terminal guidance packages that can survive the G-forces of launch (which I'm pretty sure they already have), there's no reason an artillery shell can't do the same thing a JDAM smart-bomb can do and guide itself to either a precise GPS location or to a lased target autonomously. Fire it in the direction of the target and make sure the target lies within the manuvering circle for terminal guidance and get a hit every time.

I can see why a hundred-mile range for a ship-launched smart-munition would be a valuable asset indeed. Program the camera in the nose to automatically recognize and identify an enemy vessel (which is eminently possible) and you can fire on a specific vessel from beyond detection range of anything but aircraft, drones or satellites.

Same applies to targeting specific buildings or vehicles up to, say 80 or 90 miles of a coastline. With a guidance package, the shell becomes the world's cheapest and most effective cruise missile. And, it's traveling much faster and is much smaller, so it can't be intercepted by an aircraft.

[drl2]

So is this the electromagnetically accelerated munitions thing I read about in science fiction decades ago, or some other technology?