Watch the Navy's electromagnetic railgun blow stuff up before it hits the high seas

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Furyou Miko**

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/07/navy-railgun/?ncid=rss_truncated

We've known it's in testing... but now apparently, it has magic powers!

**dementedwombat**

It's pretty dang cool. I love how it gets an explosive trail not because of propellent but because it's just going so fast it ignites the air.

**daedalus**

Railguns are great and terrible and I want one.

**Seaward**

This might lift some SWOs out of depression for a couple years, so for that reason alone, I think it's a godsend.

It doesn't seem all that fast, to me. Maybe I'm missing just how slow the slow-mo is, but I always thought the whole railgun notion was that they fire a projectile so much faster than anything else that the sheer amount of kinetic energy does the damage, and that doesn't look all that fast/impressive.

**cincydooley**

daedalus wrote:
Railguns are great and terrible and I want one.

So... being entirely unsciencey...is there any opportunity for this technology to eventually be mansized?

**Commander Cain**

I'm sure I saw this video years ago? Perhaps it was just an earlier test as the firing range looks identical.

I'm not sure I see how this is much more powerful than traditional armament though. If the ammunition is less explosive then surely the damage would be less? I view it as poking a ship with lots of teensy holes instead of hitting it with a hammer. Unless you target a vital section of a ship it seems that high explosives would still be the preferred option. Now the video kinda sucked and it would be nice to see a real time video to get a proper impression of who the gun works as that is all I am basing my argument on here.

And yes, I would like a portable railgun pretty please.

**Ouze**

"rapidly accelerate and launch a projectile between two conductive rails."

I like how blandly put this was. I hope he then whispered under his breath "mach 7, bro".

Commander Cain wrote:
I'm not sure I see how this is much more powerful than traditional armament though. If the ammunition is less explosive then surely the damage would be less? I

As you know, force is mass times acceleration. In this case, the acceleration is so fast it makes a Blackbird look like it's standing still. The shells do not lack a warhead because they can't, they lack a warhead because they impart so much energy to the target it's not necessary.

**daedalus**

cincydooley wrote:
daedalus wrote:
Railguns are great and terrible and I want one.

So... being entirely unsciencey...is there any opportunity for this technology to eventually be mansized?

Without advancements in the strength of an electromagnet vs it's size, and a reduction in the amount of power needed to get it there, probably not. I have an electromagnet with only a 50 lbs pull laying around my apartment somewhere. It's about the size and shape of a Hades Breaching Drill. I don't know a lot about how railguns work, but they use a lot of electromagnets, of likely much greater strength. Mine weighs about 5-6 lbs by itself. If we ever see a man sized one, no one will be slinging it around Quake style. It'd probably be mounted on a tripod and too complicated/fragile to have commonplace.

But that's just me talking out my ass. Like I said, I don't actually know much about them beyond the basic theory behind how they work.

**Laughing Man**

The electromagnets could be made man-portable easily enough. It's the capacitor banks that are the problem, as they're about the size of a school bus. That, and the usual problems of horrifying recoil, and your gun pulling your fillings out every time you fire it.

**Jehan-reznor**

They should fit a mothballed battleship with a row of these rail guns for "testing"

**purplefood**

Laughing Man wrote:
The electromagnets could be made man-portable easily enough. It's the capacitor banks that are the problem, as they're about the size of a school bus. That, and the usual problems of horrifying recoil, and your gun pulling your fillings out every time you fire it.

IIRC there's a small problem with the capacitors burning out as well...

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Seaward wrote:
This might lift some SWOs out of depression for a couple years, so for that reason alone, I think it's a godsend.

It doesn't seem all that fast, to me. Maybe I'm missing just how slow the slow-mo is, but I always thought the whole railgun notion was that they fire a projectile so much faster than anything else that the sheer amount of kinetic energy does the damage, and that doesn't look all that fast/impressive.

If you ask me it's a freaking miracle.
Cheap, accurate, difficult to stop, fast, no risk of unexploded ordnance, will penetrate pretty much anything.
If we can figure out the particulars it'd be incredible not just as a weapon either. It could be a great help in launching spacecraft.

**Seaward**

purplefood wrote:
IIf we can figure out the particulars it'd be incredible not just as a weapon either. It could be a great help in launching spacecraft.

If that's what you're after, then we're already there, basically. The Ford-class carriers will be launching their F-35Cs via electromagnetic cats rather than good ol' hydraulic ones.

But I dunno how this sort of stuff could be used in spacecraft launches, unless you're talking unmanned.

**purplefood**

Seaward wrote:
purplefood wrote:
IIf we can figure out the particulars it'd be incredible not just as a weapon either. It could be a great help in launching spacecraft.

If that's what you're after, then we're already there, basically. The Ford-class carriers will be launching their F-35Cs via electromagnetic cats rather than good ol' hydraulic ones.

But I dunno how this sort of stuff could be used in spacecraft launches, unless you're talking unmanned.

Chuck a bunch of bits up. Chuck a robot/drone up. Instant space station. (Okay not instant but easier)
Could also be used to resupply space station much easier as well.
I did think it could be used to launch planes as well.

**Jimsolo**

Page isn't Opera-friendly. Just opens up and shows me a wall of ads followed by the comments section for what is presumably either a video or an article?

**purplefood**

Here you go

The Navy announced plans today to deploy an electromagnetic railgun that can do some epic damage. Set to go into testing on one of Navy's joint high speed vessels (JHSV) in 2016, the gun uses Lorentz Force to "rapidly accelerate and launch a projectile between two conductive rails." The result is a gun that can shoot a ton farther than a traditional weapon. Even better, it can maintain kinetic energy while it's in flight, making it so it doesn't need a lot of explosives on board to do some damage when it gets to the car, building, or other ship you're trying to blow up. The Navy's chief engineer, Rear Adm. Bryant Fuller says the gun will "allow us to effectively counter a wide-range of threats at a relatively low cost, while keeping our ships and sailors safer by removing the need to carry as many high-explosive weapons." JHSV's aren't used for combat, so the railguns will be on their way to some TBD boats soon. For now, you can see them in action in the official Navy video below.

**Kilkrazy**

cincydooley wrote:
daedalus wrote:
Railguns are great and terrible and I want one.

So... being entirely unsciencey...is there any opportunity for this technology to eventually be mansized?

Already done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWeJsaCiGQ0

Obviously it is not nearly as powerful as a proper bullet, though.

**DutchWinsAll**

Surely this massive waste of taxpayer money will cower the Taliban into submission finally.

**whembly**

DutchWinsAll wrote:
Surely this massive waste of taxpayer money will cower the Taliban into submission finally.

wut?

It's a big stick... who doesn't like having the big stick?

**Grey Templar**

Its certainly not a waste. You can put that shell within a few yards of anywhere you want it within 400 miles of your current location while being cheaper and simpler than any sort of missile. It also cannot be shot down and anything it hits will be gone.

This is less of a waste than dumping tons of money into extremely expensive missiles that don't do much damage in proportion to their cost.

**easysauce**

DutchWinsAll wrote:
Surely this massive waste of taxpayer money will cower the Taliban into submission finally.

sorry what? are you serious?

do you have ANY clue how much cheaper it is to "sling shot" a solid projectile using magnetism then it is to build rockets to deliver payloads?

we are talking going from millions per shot to thousands. not to mention you can store more ammo, and the projectile is more effective/less likley to impossible to shoot down.

if it helps, its more eco friendly too.

**Grey Templar**

Kilkrazy wrote:
cincydooley wrote:
daedalus wrote:
Railguns are great and terrible and I want one.

So... being entirely unsciencey...is there any opportunity for this technology to eventually be mansized?

Already done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWeJsaCiGQ0

Obviously it is not nearly as powerful as a proper bullet, though.

Good to know a laptop monitor can stop those rounds.

Still, a great working proof of concept.

I'll bet a more powerful version could be built with the right materials.

**Iron_Captain**

I want a railgun! Where can I order one?

What I am doubting however is the usefulness of a railgun on a ship when ships can already fire missiles.

**purplefood**

Iron_Captain wrote:
I want a railgun! Where can I order one?
What I am doubting however is the usefulness of a railgun on a ship when ships can already fire missiles.

The ability to put a hole in something from very far away is always useful.
I imagine once they have fully worked it out it will be able to fire faster than a ship firing missiles. It's also a 5kg (Or there abouts) tungsten block travelling at mach 7. It's not going to be stopped, and probably not even seen...
There's also the fact that it is much cheaper to shoot 10 of these than it is to shoot a single missile.
Missiles can also be shot down, distracted and generally led astray.

**Ouze**

Iron_Captain wrote:
I want a railgun! Where can I order one?
What I am doubting however is the usefulness of a railgun on a ship when ships can already fire missiles.

There are several benefits over missiles. One is that you don't have to store and handle explosive warheads. Another is that the rounds themselves are inexpensive.

Finally, the rounds travel so much faster than a missile, they are going to be so, so much harder to intercept. A missile headed for a boat will be intercepted by several systems, but lets go with a phalanx-type system; a super rapid firing automatically tracking weapon that throws out a hail of bullets. You hit a missile once, down it goes, a fragile thing. You hit a railgun slug with a 3 ounce 20mm bullet and, well... it's like tossing a BB at a bullet someone shot at you. You won't hit it, but if you do, it won't matter.

**purplefood**

I suppose you could rig another railgun up to a phalanx system and have it fire smaller projectiles slightly slower at a faster rate to attempt to spoil the shot...
That would be like trying to hit a speeding bullet with another speeding bullet... Actually it is trying to hit a bullet with a bullet...

**Ouze**

Another thing you can do with a railgun projectile that you can't do with a missile:

Spoiler:

**mega_bassist**

Ouze wrote:
Another thing you can do with a railgun projectile that you can't do with a missile:

Spoiler:

That is probably one of the best gifs I have ever seen. I need to know what movie this is from.

Google, you saved the day - "San Basilio"...I need to locate this movie. Haha.

**ImotekhTheStormlord**

The next step is to upsize the device and attach a nuclear warhead.

**purplefood**

ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:
The next step is to upsize the device and attach a nuclear warhead.

Now why do you have to make it all horrible?
Also, not sure that'd be a good idea...

**ImotekhTheStormlord**

purplefood wrote:
ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:
The next step is to upsize the device and attach a nuclear warhead.

Now why do you have to make it all horrible?
Also, not sure that'd be a good idea...

Pssshaww. I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Few problems cannot be solved by the proper application of nuclear weapons.