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The Military United States Science

The US Navy's Railgun Program 321

RougeFive writes "Imagine a warship weapon that can launch projectiles at Mach 10 without explosives (more than three times the muzzle speed of an M16 rifle), that has a range of 220 miles and that uses the enormous speed to destroy the target by causing as much damage as a Tomahawk missile. Meet the U.S. Navy's electromagnetic railgun program."
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The US Navy's Railgun Program

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  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday October 01, 2012 @04:31PM (#41517811)

    Say it ain't so!

    Hey look Ugg. Your club hurts, but I added a rock to the end of mine. Oh yea, well I have made a thinner club with a pointy edge to it so I can throw it at a distance. Oh yea. I put a sharp stone at the end of it so it will cut into my enemy further (and yes it has hunting applications too).

    oh yea. Well I now can launch it with an other stick.
    Heck I beat you with a more compact stick on a string.
    By the way I have found to put sharper rocks at the end of sticks...

    Hey check this out I found out how to melt rocks into this shiny stuff that doesn't shatter like a rock does, and I can grind it to make it sharper.

    Yea I took your idea and made mine longer.

    Yea, Well mine is sharper and better balanced.

    Hey I just came back from China, I found this neat stuff that explodes.

    Yea. I found I could make the direction better if I encase it metal that can contain and direct the explosion.

    Well mine is bigger.

    Well mine is more portable.

    Well mine is more accurate.

    Well mine can reload faster.

    Well mine I can mass produce.

    Well my big ones explode more.....

  • Explosives (Score:5, Funny)

    by ShakaUVM ( 157947 ) on Monday October 01, 2012 @04:47PM (#41517979) Homepage Journal

    ""Imagine a warship weapon that can launch projectiles at Mach 10 without explosives..."

    Well, that's not counting the railgun itself, I guess.

    They tend to fail spectacularly.

  • by X0563511 ( 793323 ) on Monday October 01, 2012 @05:42PM (#41518607) Homepage Journal

    Better than speaking big and carrying soft sticks.

  • by Hognoxious ( 631665 ) on Monday October 01, 2012 @05:55PM (#41518755) Homepage Journal

    Frankly, a CVN is not supposed to get within gun range of anything that can shoot back. That's what its warplanes are for.

    Put a socket on the side and run a fucking massive(tm) extension cable to the gunboat or whatever the nouveau battlecruiser is called.

    Bunch of thickies round here.

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