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U.S. Navy to Deploy Rail Guns by 2011

Posted by michael on from the warporn dept.

Walter Francis writes "The U.S. Navy has apparently been busy. They have been focusing heavily on the next generation of weapons and propulsion systems, including Microwave, Laser, and Electromagnetic-Kinetic weapons, more commonly known as railguns. What specifically surprised me was the fact that the Navy plans to deploy these systems as early as 2011, on their DD(X) frigates. The range of these rail guns is estimated to be over 250 miles."

5 of 1,172 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory "build-your-own-railgun-link" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    check out voltsamps.com on how to build your own railgun

  2. Re:Haven't you forgotten something, Captain Avatar by gmhowell · · Score: 5, Informative

    We're off to outer space
    We're leaving Mother Earth
    To save the human race
    Our Star Blazers

    Searching for a distant star
    Heading off to Iscandar
    Leaving all we love behind
    Who knows what danger we'll find?

    We must be strong and brave
    Our home we've got to save
    If we don't in just one year
    Mother Earth will disappear

    Fighting with the Gamilons
    We won't stop until we've won
    Then we'll return and when we arrive
    The Earth will survive
    With our Star Blazers

    Back in my day, we had Star Blazers, Astro Boy, and Kimba the White Lion. We didn't have no 'Adult Swim' or fancy cable so we had to stand next to the TV doing the UHF stance and stare through a staticy mess to see our anime, and WE LIKED IT!

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
  3. Re:Tactical Flexibility by nosphalot · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you'd read the article, you'd know that the railgun is better because:

    • Its cheaper than missles, at least 3 times
    • It delivers more energy to the target, and penetrates deeper into hardened targets
    • The ammunition takes less room to store, and doesn't pose a risk of explosion like missles or artillery shells
    • The shells have guidence, and are just as accurate as missles, but travel much much faster

    In other words, it brings a lot to a Real World(TM) battle.

  4. Re:Suggestion for their autoexec.cfg by cynic10508 · · Score: 5, Informative

    name USS Abraham Lincoln

    Well, Abraham Lincoln wouldn't be a name for a destroyer. President names are used for Nimitz-class super carriers. In fact, Lincoln is already taken by the CVN-72. I think destroyers take their names from famous Navy personnel.

  5. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    RTFPDF. The rounds will likely be guided (by GPS).