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Rail guns now a reality – soon in service January 19, 2007

Posted by Al in : fighting,future,interesting , trackback

Rail guns, Gauss guns, or electromagnetically propelled weapons have long been a dream of the armed forces. No explosive propellant, virtually no recoil and the possibility of immense speed, which in turn leads to immense power. Well now rail guns have been shown to work, and to deliver projectiles with speed and accuracy. The first armed forces to have these will be the US Navy, as you need a pretty big platform to carry the eletric pulse generator and to allow the rail to be big enough for decent acceleration. They are hoping to have a rail gun in the next 10-12 years that will fire it’s projectile over 200 miles, and it’s trajectory will carry it 95 miles high, into space, and then it should return with a fair velocity. (I just wonder if the atmosphere will slow the projectile and make it end up arriving at just terminal velocity).

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