New toy for the Navy

[KLang]

Railgun (http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/02/01/navy-test-fires-10-megajoule-railgun-holy-cow/) :eek: :thumbup:

[Gnam]

Diz-amn. :eek:

Why is the projectile on fire? Maybe for visual impact?

I've heard they'll have to divert energy from the engines to fire the guns. Wasn't that the problem with the Yamato gun? ;)

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1107/starblazers1ax3.jpg

[RichK]

Diz-amn. :eek:

Why is the projectile on fire? Maybe for visual impact?



I think it's ionizing the air behind it.

[G.]

In high-speed images released by the Navy, a fireball trailed the projectile – making it appear like a fiery rocket propellant. D'Andrea said the heat energy generated within the railgun is intense enough to ignite aluminum particles and gases.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20080202-9999-1n2gun.html

[KLang]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20080202-9999-1n2gun.html

Thanks, G. Much better article then I provided.

[G.]

Thanks, G. Much better article then I provided.You're welcome. I am always glad to go out of my way to help another poster. I searchedandsearchedandsearched for that link. Took me the better part of the day.










(it was on your page, in the comments at the bottom):gomer:

[Sean Malone]

Diz-amn. :eek:

Why is the projectile on fire? Maybe for visual impact?

I've heard they'll have to divert energy from the engines to fire the guns. Wasn't that the problem with the Yamato gun? ;)

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1107/starblazers1ax3.jpg

Star Blazers was one of my all time favs as a kid, just behind Speed Racer and just ahead of Battle of the Planets (G-Force). Cheers for the pic!:thumbup:

[oddlycalm]

I think it's ionizing the air behind it. It's super heating the air making it a gas plasma. :cool:

The part they aren't mentioning is how big the capacitor banks have to be to store a 10 megajoule charge. Think tractor trailer size. Portability may be an issue...
When I worked for Cincinnati Inc. in the late 70's I saw some 150 kilojoule Cincinnati Electroshape plasma forming machines the company had made at United Airlines SFO maintenance shop and the Alameda Naval Air Station on a trip to the SF Bay area. The concept was simple; you have a big iron pot with a few ounce of water in it and you put a piece of metal and a cavity die over it then discharge 150 kilojoules into the water through something like a spark plug on steroids. Major explosion and it made making pointy shapes like missile nose cones easy. Made the workers nervous though as really loud explosions at random intervals tend to...:gomer:

In any case, the capacitor banks for those mere 150 kilojoulle machines were enormous at approx. 20ft.x6ft. Even given advances in capacitor design a 10+ megajoulle device is gonna be really big.

These pics don't show that massive capacitor banks, but they do show what a fun device it was to play with. :cool:

http://www.centurymachinery.com/images/8910-2,%20cincinnati%20electroshape%20metal%20forming%2 0press,%20model%20150-6448,%204%20post%20press,%20bed%20area%2048%20inch %20x%2064%20inch,%20book%20photo%20press%20and%20e xample%20of%20forming.jpg

[dando]

The part they aren't mentioning is how big the capacitor banks have to be to store a 10 megajoule charge. Think tractor trailer size. Portability may be an issue...

But if this is for the Navy, they gots boats. :gomer: Now if this were the Army, think RV like Stripes. :D

-Kevin

[nissan gtp]

But if this is for the Navy, they gots boats. :gomer: Now if this were the Army, think RV like Stripes. :D

-Kevin

yep. Ships don't have lots of free space, but even the little ones could mount these.

and with a Nuclear power plant, lots of juice available :cool:

[stroker]

It'd be easier to build a new ship, but I was thinking that the Wisconsin/NJ is still available. Rip out the oil burners and 16 inchers, put in a nuke powerplant and a railgun. Use the ocean for a heat exchanger. Mount a buttload of Standard Block 3's and Tomahawks and you'd have a real problem parked off your shoreline.

Too expensive, though.