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[Tacitus_]

"fire a 25-pound projectile through seven steel plates"

Of what thickness?? Weird sentence

Their tests 2 years ago put a slug through 6 half inch plates. 7.6 cm of steel in SI units.

 

[ZeroTheShadow]

Was expecting the arcade board adapter. I'm disappointed.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

If it travels that far without losing velocity you've really got to be careful what's behind the thing they're targeting.

This.

 

[Ogodei]

What's the purpose that missiles or RPGs can't achieve?

Not being snarky, genuinely curious if modern military buffs can fill me in. If you need hardware that large to fire it, why not pursue rocket-powered missiles further?

 

[TAJ]

Smh, this is half as long as some conventional ship-mounted guns

What's the purpose that missiles or RPGs can't achieve?

Not being snarky, genuinely curious if modern military buffs can fill me in. If you need hardware that large to fire it, why not pursue rocket-powered missiles further?

It's dirt-cheap to fire and there's no defense against it.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

Their tests 2 years ago put a slug through 6 half inch plates. 7.6 cm of steel in SI units.

Wow. That shit looks a lot cleaner than I expected.

 

[ApharmdX]

It's a neat idea but:

Wires splay out the back of the railgun, which requires a power plant that generates 25 megawatts—enough electricity to power 18,750 homes.

Powering this gun is demanding, similar to the energy weapons they tried to sell us on in the 80's. Chemical propulsion is easier to manage.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

This is the future of mail delivery between Earth and Mars!

 

[PulseONE]

Paint it gold and you got the Gae Bolg

And make it float!
MAGNETSSS

 

[Pejo]

That's a pretty cool gun.

 

[Rentahamster]

What's the purpose that missiles or RPGs can't achieve?

Not being snarky, genuinely curious if modern military buffs can fill me in. If you need hardware that large to fire it, why not pursue rocket-powered missiles further?

These are really really really fast.

 

[Tacitus_]

Wonder what the AoE is on this. If it flew right past your head, what would the damage be?

Thinking about it though, I wonder if it would just sort of pulverize your whole body, or just punch a hole through you. Obviously the kinetic shock is going to kill you one way or the other, but would the result be a mist, a jellified human, or someone with a hole punched in them like out of Kung Pow: Enter the Fist?

It flashes air into plasma around it. Like so

What's the purpose that missiles or RPGs can't achieve?

Not being snarky, genuinely curious if modern military buffs can fill me in. If you need hardware that large to fire it, why not pursue rocket-powered missiles further?

Far cheaper than missiles and doesn't require storing high explosives.

 

[TAJ]

It's a neat idea but:



Powering this gun is demanding, similar to the energy weapons they tried to sell us on in the 80's. Chemical propulsion is easier to manage.

It's almost like you'd need an on-board nuclear power plant...

 

[Funyarinpa]

I came here for this

Well done

 

[ApharmdX]

Far cheaper than missiles and doesn't require storing high explosives.

That's a good point. A lot of times in naval battles it was the detonation of onboard munitions that did the bulk of damage, right?

 

[CO_Andy]

 

[Daingurse]

Can't lie, I love that our military has fucking laser canons and rail guns. It's just plain impressive.

 

[ZeroTheShadow]

It's almost like you'd need an on-board nuclear power plant...

Or a nuclear equiped walking battle tank.

 

[Funyarinpa]

It's a neat idea but:



Powering this gun is demanding, similar to the energy weapons they tried to sell us on in the 80's. Chemical propulsion is easier to manage.

Holy shit Neon Genesis Evangelion fucking called it

Spoiler

does anyone have a gif of Japan as a whole powering down to fire that laser

 

[Tacitus_]

That's a good point. A lot of times in naval battles it was the detonation of onboard munitions that did the bulk of damage, right?

Can't really answer that, but I really wouldn't want to be near when a magazine exploded with dozens to hundreds of the things you use to shoot at the enemy.

 

[TAJ]

That's a good point. A lot of times in naval battles it was the detonation of onboard munitions that did the bulk of damage, right?

Like so...

http://postimage.org/

http://postimage.org/

 

[ryutaro's mama]

"What's that? It's the Grand Canon!"

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

What's the purpose that missiles or RPGs can't achieve?

Not being snarky, genuinely curious if modern military buffs can fill me in. If you need hardware that large to fire it, why not pursue rocket-powered missiles further?

Probably 1/10,000 the price of a missile or rocket,
Ridiculous range,
Ridiculous speed means almost instantaneous hits miles away.

 

[Servizio]

I'm just glad they have it behind those traffic cones. Safety first!

 

[MMarston]

Tesla tanks are next you guys.

Nah, Prism tanks are where it's at yo.

 

[Spaghetti]

Mount it on a giant robot America.

I fucking dare you.

 

[AlStrong]

The US gets Railguns, China and Russia have Hypersonic Missles, so which faction in this RTS game we call real life gets Lasers?

Canada:

Light Amplified Sorry Excuse-me Rifles

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

It's a neat idea but:



Powering this gun is demanding, similar to the energy weapons they tried to sell us on in the 80's. Chemical propulsion is easier to manage.

I don't see this on anything else than a purpose built station or in like a nuclear powered ship but, yeah it's not efficient.

Unless a navy specialist can correct me.

 

[Alcoremortis]

Railgun is cool but I want laser.

We already have lasers. And yeah, I mean laser guns mounted onto ships.

Though, unlike movie lasers, real lasers just set people on fire from a distance.

 

[peaceiscloser]

Took 66 posts for Metal Gear REX. smh guys

 

[AlStrong]

Or a nuclear equiped walking battle tank.

There's still recoil to accommodate though.

 

[BearFlexington]

Half a billion dollars and it'll probably never get used outside of trials.

 

[Grym]

how quickly can it fire. I mean, is there a lot of prep time for each launch? Or is this as terrifying in real-time combat as it sounds? (If it is fast, I assume it will take out ships and tanks and other heavy machinery-type stuff with ease)



EDIT - woah

Wires splay out the back of the railgun, which requires a power plant that generates 25 megawatts—enough electricity to power 18,750 homes.

welp

The Navy now believes it has a design that soon will be able to fire 10 times a minute through a barrel capable of lasting 1,000 rounds.

 

[cdyhybrid]

I don't see this on anything else than a purpose built station or in like a nuclear powered ship but, yeah it's not efficient.

Unless a navy specialist can correct me.

I imagine we're nowhere near the battery technology to make a railgun feasible anywhere else.

 

[Apoc29]

I like how they put pylons around it as if to say "Do not touch".

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Fitting after just watching Mr. Pres' emotional speech at Hiroshima -__-


and yeah

Metal Gear?!

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

Didn't Nazi's make a tank like this?

America, what you doing? You going full Junon?

 

[daveo42]

Nice to hear about the railgun again. Call me up when we have a hand-held version of this that I can carry around at Target.

 

[ahoyhoy]

With speeds like that I imagine hitting a missile out of the sky will be much easier right? Like, that velocity will be able to negate factors like wind resistance easier.

 

[SgtCobra]

Bringing freedom one shot at a time.

 

[TAJ]

how quickly can it fire. I mean, is there a lot of prep time for each launch? Or is this as terrifying in real-time combat as it sounds? (If it is fast, I assume it will take out ships and tanks and other heavy machinery-type stuff with ease)

Could be quicker than other battleship guns since there are no charges to load.

With speeds like that I imagine hitting a missile out of the sky will be much easier right? Like, that velocity will be able to negate factors like wind resistance easier.

You can buy weather computers for civilian rifles that take wind readings at several points between you and the target and compensate. I have to think the military has something better than something you can buy in a store for a few thousand dollars.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Fitting after just watching Mr. Pres' emotional speech at Hiroshima -__-


and yeah

Metal Gear?!

Two different things. A railgun isn't gonna level a city in the blink of an eye.

 

[Tacitus_]

I don't see this on anything else than a purpose built station or in like a nuclear powered ship but, yeah it's not efficient.

Unless a navy specialist can correct me.

Well, when you've got a nuclear reactor and plenty of extra power...

And you can store a shit ton of these on your ship.

And with 25k per slug, you can shoot 56 of these or one Tomahawk.

 

[muteki]

Defeating the enemy one 5-inch hole at a time.

 

[TAJ]

Nice to hear about the railgun again. Call me up when we have a hand-held version of this that I can carry around at Target.

Are you white, though?

 

[QuantumZebra]

Two different things. A railgun isn't gonna level a city in the blink of an eye.

Yea people don't seem to get that this could actually prevent larger damage/collateral damage.

If we can put a railgun shell straight into the bunker of a terrorist, or the middle of a convoy, that is FAR less collateral than carpet bombing the area.



***Edit: one other thing people here seem to be missing - this thing is WAY faster than any projectile we have currently... like fucking several times faster. Where it might take a missile a few minutes to hit a target, this could put a tree sized hole in them in seconds.

 

[MJPIA]

Former President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative—the so-called Star Wars missile defense—at one time envisioned using the railgun to shoot down nuclear missiles. Those plans were stalled by 1980s technology. One problem was that the gun barrel and electromagnetic rails had to be replaced after a single shot.

The Navy now believes it has a design that soon will be able to fire 10 times a minute through a barrel capable of lasting 1,000 rounds.

If they really do have a barrel design that will last firing 1000 rounds thats the most impressive part.

Hitting a missile with a bullet—a technical obstacle that hampered Mr. Reagan’s initiative—remains a challenge. Railgun research leans heavily on commercial advances in supercomputing to aim and on smartphone technology to steer the railgun’s projectile using the Global Positioning System.

“Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have been able to build a projectile like this because the cellphone industry, the smartphone industry, hadn’t perfected the components,” said William Roper, the director of the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office. “It is a really smart bullet.”

Development of the railgun guidance system is about done, officials said, but circuits in the projectile must be hardened to withstand gravitational forces strong enough to turn most miniaturized electronics to scrap.

Good luck dodging that.

Missile defense by the railgun is at least a decade away, but Pentagon officials believe weapon’s projectiles can be used much sooner. They are filled with Tungsten pellets harder than many kinds of steel, officials said, and will likely cost between $25,000 and $50,000, a bargain compared with a $10-million interceptor missile.

The electrical energy required to fire a railgun means it is likely to be used first as a ship-mounted weapon. Only one class of Navy ship, the Zumwalt-class destroyer, has such a power plant, officials said. The Navy is building just three of those destroyers, so the Pentagon is working to adapt the projectile to use in existing Naval guns on other vessels, as well as for Army artillery.

While slower than a railgun, a powder-fired railgun projectile still flies at 2,800 miles an hour, which extends the range and power of existing weapons.

At Dalhgren last year, military engineers test-fired 5- and 6-inch Navy guns loaded with a version of the railgun projectile. The range of the Navy’s 6-inch guns was extended to 38 miles from 15 miles.

The Pentagon also tested the railgun projectile in 155mm Army howitzers, successfully extending its range.

“The Navy is on the cusp of having a tactical system, a next generation offensive weapon,” Mr. Roper said. “It could be a game changer.”

If the shell can also be used in normal ship guns then that helps logistics out as well as lowers the cost if the shell can be used for a bunch of other guns and not just a very small amount of railguns.

 

[TacticalHotdog]

Didn't Nazi's make a tank like this?

America, what you doing? You going full Junon?

Not a tank, it's a railway gun. Basically a giant artillery gun that is moved around on train tracks.

It's a neat idea but:



Powering this gun is demanding, similar to the energy weapons they tried to sell us on in the 80's. Chemical propulsion is easier to manage.

Speaking of energy weapons, the Navy has also been testing a laser weapon

So far, they've shot down a drone and a speedboat with it

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

Well, when you've got a nuclear reactor and plenty of extra power...

And you can store a shit ton of these on your ship.

And with 25k per slug, you can shoot 56 of these or one Tomahawk.

A rail gun isn't guided.

 

[Goliath]

Metal....Gear?