U.S. Navy Test-Fires Futuristic Weapon

[maildude]

It's called the railgun and it's very powerful. STORY

 

[Vanilla Bear]

ah yes I just read that too...

Pretty Nice.

Me like big guns.

 

[L3ggy]

It's no Ion Cannon.

 

[hedonis]

It's no Ion Cannon.

But then... really... what is?

 

[Vanilla Bear]

It's no Ion Cannon.

and? Thats something completely different.

 

[DrDetroit]

Like the guy said, "I never want to see a Marine in a fair fight, I want him to have the advantage"

I think this is a big one.

 

[thorsif]

What next, the Light Sabre:1orglaugh

 

[Legzman]

that gave me wood...

 

[marquis2]

Hardly futuristic, it's a development of the linear induction motor I saw demonstrated in the 60s by Eric Laithwaite. His first patent (1948) was to use this system to propel a shuttle across a loom.He won a contract to design a space launcher for NASA in 1997 but died a month later.

 

[Supafly]

I must say this monster gun is awesome. If they develop some speed-loader for it, I see big trouble for attacking aircrafts over ships

 

[Facetious]

ah yes I just read that too...

Pretty Nice.

Me like big guns.

:hatsoff: Without them most of us would have never been.






Here's another "basic" primer on the rail gunny - http://www.powerlabs.org/railgun2.htm


It's been around but hasn't really been implemented.

Maybe now that brass copper and lead are pricey commodities, this is the time for RG ! :hatsoff:

 

[senob44]

Cool article and video. I don't know anything about guns, but I know I like that gun.

 

[coolbeers]

I want one:violent:

 

[mongo18]

They have been developing them forever, but they always had problems with the projectiles melting in the barrel due to the ridiculous speeds.
An Australian company called Metal Storm builds electronically firing guns and has developed a gun that can fire a a rate of a million rounds per minute (obviously it doesn't hold a million rounds, but it'll send a lot of metal your way in a really short time), here is the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8hlj4EbdsE
They also have an area denial system that can allow a single soldier to unleash 1800 40mm grenades and 360 heavy tank mortars in 0.25 seconds. Cool stuff.

 

[D-rock]

Ummm...I'll come back when they invent a particle beam and make it a practical weapon. :tongue:

Of course isn't the main drawback to all those exotic weapons that have been dreamt up over the years the fact they all require ridiculous amounts of energy to operate.

 

[CptHa]

Next up: the Happy Sunshine Cannon!

 

[maildude]

Next up: the Happy Sunshine Cannon!

Or the "Peacekeeper" blowtorch! :eek:

 

[youwanttoshagme]

Hmm. The video isn't of a rail-gun. A rail-gun should have no chemical or moving parts (other than the projectile). However, the video clearly shows combustion of an accelerant in the barrel.

 

[JiDoKwan]

That's cool ships like they have on Stargate SG-1 aren't far behind - lol

 

[maildude]

Hey...forget about our weapons. There's a galactic war going on! HERE