U.S. Navy Receives First Industry Built Railgun Prototype

Zothecula writes "Two years after BAE Systems was awarded a US$21 million contract from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop an advanced Electromagnetic Railgun for the U.S. Navy, the company has delivered the first industry-built prototype demonstrator to the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren. The prototype launcher is now being prepared for testing which is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks."

Comments

Wow

[koan]

Can you imagine the sound this weapon makes when a projectile exits at 5000 MPH, that alone would terrify the enemy.

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

I work at the facility in question. The sound is comparable (but louder) to a 5 inch shell being fired on the range.

It is quite capable of startling someone not expecting it from about a km away.

Re:Wow

[Baloroth]

Well, TFA says the projectile travels at around 5,000mph leaving the barrel, and has ~32 megajoules of energy, so using KE=1/2mv^2 and some conversion, you get about 13kg (5000mph=2235m/s, [32e6]*2/[2235^2]=m=12.8)

Re:Wow

[Captain Hook]

I'm still unclear on how the rail gun is supposed to take accurate aim on a mobile target (another ship).

Assuming you are shooting at 80 miles, the projectile is moving at 5000 mph. Flight time is about 58 seconds. Not many large ships can radically alter course in that time to avoid the shot.

Also, bear in mind that line of sight at sea level +30 meters is about 13 miles. So a target ship without the ability to see beyond the horizon (either Airborne Radar or Satellite) only has 9 seconds from when the slugs appears above the horizon to impact, and thats assuming the radar picks it up the moment it's above the horizon.

The US already has missile technology which does a very good job.

Missiles can be shot down or guidance interfered with.

There is also an issue with missiles and shells being filled with explosives which if detonated within your ship at the very least significantly damages if not out right sinks it.

Railguns are shooting a solid slug of metal. There is no propellant to be ignited, it's intrinsically safe for the firing ship to handle. The slugs are also far more compact than the missiles or shells because of the lack of propellant so a warship can leave port carrying far more ammo which means less resupply at sea is needed.