Mach 7 rail gun

JOhnH said:
Interesting weapon.

http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...ew-mach-7-cannon-could-be-a-game-changer.aspx

It sounds cool, but it also sound like it could easily be adopted by our enemies and turned around on us.
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Why do you say our enemies could turn it around on us? You see them taking over Navy ships? :dunno: I suspect there is significant tech involved, so I don't see the idiots of ISIS building one, I don't even see IRAN, or North Korea building one. Russia maybe.

My question is, how accurate is it at 100 miles? I'm assuming it is an unguided projectile, so how well can they aim this thing and hit something 100 miles away? That's the beauty of the cruise missile they want to replace, it can be very accurate at 100 miles.
 
Math says the projectile would be moving at about 1.5 miles per second, even that fast making the lead time on a target (at 100 miles) to be just over a minute without taking air resistance into account. Stuff that moves that fast down low is going to have problems with heat and deformation, no?

I also wonder, wind and temps and humidity can change pretty drastically over 100 miles, how do you account for that with the shot?
 
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nauga said:
That might not be a valid assumption ;)

Nauga,
robustly.
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True. Anything is possible. That would be some serious tech to have electronics and control mechanisms be able to withstand that kind of G forces. Zero to Mach 7 in what, 100 ft? If it is guided, it's truly a wonder weapon.
 
Dav8or said:
Why do you say our enemies could turn it around on us? You see them taking over Navy ships? :dunno: I suspect there is significant tech involved, so I don't see the idiots of ISIS building one, I don't even see IRAN, or North Korea building one. Russia maybe.

My question is, how accurate is it at 100 miles? I'm assuming it is an unguided projectile, so how well can they aim this thing and hit something 100 miles away? That's the beauty of the cruise missile they want to replace, it can be very accurate at 100 miles.
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What makes you think that Islamic industrial spies, especially from Iraq, aren't already working at BAe or Raytheon sending the technology home? Stalin knew about the Manhattan Project because he had people inside it.
 
James331 said:
Our enemies? Who? The AK toting guy driving a Datsun pickup in Afghanistan?
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No, the guys with enough money to buy billion dollar yachts, fly in private A-380s, and hire the best talent that money can buy. The ones that were behind 9/11.
 
Dav8or said:
That would be some serious tech to have electronics and control mechanisms be able to withstand that kind of G forces. Zero to Mach 7 in what, 100 ft?
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There are already guided munitions that can withstand that kind of acceleration. Lower muzzle velocity but significantly shorter barrel length. It's not as much of a stretch as you might imagine.

Nauga,
avoiding the 'hardened' joke
 
Henning said:
No, the guys with enough money to buy billion dollar yachts, fly in private A-380s, and hire the best talent that money can buy. The ones that were behind 9/11.
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Those guys?!
We are always happy to sell weapons to them anyways. Probably working a BOGO deal too :lol:
 
Maxwell labs in Sandy Eggo had a rail gun project for a quite a while back in the late 80s. I didn't work for them directly, but we supported their power needs. As I recall, from second hand sources the Maxwell rail gun suffered mostly from vaporizing the projectile, and lousy accuracy. Maybe BAE has made some quantum leaps in those areas. Maxwell gave up after about 10 years.
 
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docmirror said:
Maxwell labs in Sandy Eggo had a rail gun project for a quite a while back in the late 80s. I didn't work for them directly, but we supported their power needs. As I recall, from second hand sources the Maxwell rail gun suffered mostly from vaporizing the projectile, and lousy accuracy. Maybe BAE has made some quantum leaps in those areas. Maxwell gave up after about 10 years.
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Technology development has not stopped in the mean time, it just went 'virtual'. The advance potential between 1990 and now, especially in solid state circuitry and electro reactive metallurgy, may very well have allowed for solutions in the mean time.:dunno: If they are being fitted to ships for trials, they will be past that stage I would expect. Are these guided projectiles or dumb ballistic?
 
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docmirror said:
Maybe BAE has made some quantum leaps in those areas. Maxwell gave up after about 10 years.
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Aaahhh....there have been a few advances in munitions since the late '80s. I know less about the guns themselves but I know there has been significant progress of late.

Nauga,
and the hypervelocity hobo
 
nauga said:
Aaahhh....there have been a few advances in munitions since the late '80s. I know less about the guns themselves but I know there has been significant progress of late.

Nauga,
and the hypervelocity hobo
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I figured as much. Maxwell went with alloyed metalics and I'm betting BAE went with some kind of ceramics based deal to coat the DU slug. Ceramics don't ablate like metalics under surface duress. It's not my field really, I just supplied them wit one point twenty-one jigawatts when they flipped the switch on the damn thing.:wink2:
 
docmirror said:
I figured as much. Maxwell went with alloyed metalics and I'm betting BAE went with some kind of ceramics based deal to coat the DU slug. Ceramics don't ablate like metalics under surface duress. It's not my field really, I just supplied them wit one point twenty-one jigawatts when they flipped the switch on the damn thing.:wink2:
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I bet they don't even need the supply these days. They went chemical...
 
Clark1961 said:
I bet they don't even need the supply these days. They went chemical...
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Can you expand on this? Not sure I get it.

The slug has to be some kind of metal to get the electromagnetic acceleration, but it needs to be pretty tough against the heat of atmosphere. Tricky stuff.
 
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docmirror said:
Can you expand on this? Not sure I get it.
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I have no knowledge other than the serious laser systems went to chemical source for power rather than electric. Perhaps the railguns did the same? Dunno.
 
Read about Gerald bull, canadian who built a gun that was of gigantic size. He was killed over it, probably by the musad. Book based on his life, good read, " the fist of God."
 
Clark1961 said:
I have no knowledge other than the serious laser systems went to chemical source for power rather than electric. Perhaps the railguns did the same? Dunno.
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Nope. Gas turbine gens that run the boat also fire the weapon. Supposed to generate a Lorentz field around the projectile. Problem is the various moments of the angular vectors are not consistent. People a lot smarter than me have to figure out how to get it all tuned and lined up etc.
 
Navy always has more electricity available than anyone else. ;) Especially the kids who have that lead shielded room on board...
 
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