I'm a member of the NRA, I didn't see this in the last catalog.

An interesting tidbit in the article is that the rail gun is only expected to fire ten times or less per day, presumably because of the amount of electricity needed.

If only we knew when lightning was due to strike some sort of a clock tower? Surely, then, we could harness the power needed.

If that doesn't work, perhaps some new technology involving trash?

The Free Lance-Star newspaper is reporting that the Navy Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia has successfully demonstrated an 8-megajoule electromagnetic rail gun.

Yeah, but can you headshot with it from the far platform on the Longest Yard?

by June they'll get the quad-damage powerup working?

if you can only fire 10 per day.

I'd be very careful accounting for winds over a distance of 200 miles, particularly where chinese embassies are located. Must be a hell of a job to be spotter for this kind of weapon.

It will allow the US Navy to miss targets from much further away.

A 32-megajoule version is due to be tested in June. A 64-megajoule version is anticipated to extend the range of naval gunfire (currently about 15 nautical miles for a 5-inch naval gun) to more than 200 nautical miles by 2020.

Nobody will ever need more than a 64 Megajoules rail gun.

... these would almost replace Navies.

Come on, if you could fire a projectile 200 miles, you could just mount these on coastlines, serviced by ground-based power plants. True, it wouldn't replace navies ENTIRELY, but it would suddenly become extremely UN-economical to have one with even the slightest capability to get near a shoreline. Pushing back aircraft carriers 200 miles would severely reduce the flight time of the planes, which now have to fly a lot farther just to get to the coastline, let alone targets inside countries.

On the plus side, land-locked countries can now hunt whales for food. :)

NO, NO, NO.
You're so Silly!

They will be wire-guided.

The whole pinpoint accuracy thing was a mistake.
As long as you know which continent you are hitting, that's good enough.

Parent recap:

1. *some idea*
2. "use robots with ion drives for that stuff"
3. profit!

Shoot 11 missiles at the ship, when everyone else shoots 10.

Conservation of energy doesn't exist in your world? Here where I live when you transfer the electrical energy to kinetic energy to launch the warhead the electricty is no longer available for use since it is now kinetic energy in the warhead.

This reminds me of a proof-of-concept model built by by Dr. Emmett L. Brown, except he was capable of creating greater acceleration using only twenty-one gigawatts of electricity, and he utilized flux-capacitor technology which did not require overhauls after every use.

HARP died because Remo found out it was all a scam.

Wow, 200 posts, and not one complaint about railgun campers. I guess nobody plays Quake anymore.

I WANT ONE! (The other 10% are holding out for the 64 megajoule model).

'High School Math', mmmm let's see, if Billy has a quarter ounce of pot and six people in his van how many joints can he make before they drive to Mc Donalds for munchies?

Yes, as soon as the moon moves to within 95 miles altitude.

so a shot of 100 tons of titanium a day could well make a moon mining facility profitable
Even more profitable would be to make Earth pay you NOT to lob 100 tons of titanium at them per day.

TANSTAAFL

House: Warning, you currently appear to be a state of diminished mental capacity. You are about to trip over your coffee table. You (drunk): Shuddup yer stupid piece of jun.. *THUD* Aargh! My leg! House, call me an ambulance! House: Affirmative, your hot bath will be ready in approximately 3 minutes.

Use the rail gun to launch a big, heavy projectile into orbit.

Attach projectile to giant bungee cord.

Attach giant bungee cord to object you want in orbit.

Give object giant scissors.

Expanding on this, you could tie one object with several rubber bands to several projectiles.

Apparently this gun will fire a Ford Taurus at 380mph.

Does anyone know if Clarkson or Hammond have expressed an interest ?

Why do navel ships have an abundance of electricity? I can come up with some guesses, but it's just hand waving.

Navel ships require an umbilical of some type; electricity is often provided through the umbilical.

;-)

unless we want hundred ton slugs of titanium to be the next-gen strategic weapon.

Put big enough wings on it, and you can steer it in just like a 747.

Yeah, sure.

Spin a 400 ton wheel at 400 rpm inside a cruiser and try to get the energy out of it within the second:

  The result:

A cruiser spinning at 200 rpm in the other direction !!

Now sunny, keep aiming at the target no matter what!!