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| Science & Technology |
| Electromagnetic Railgun Air Defence Test Fired Successfully |
| 2009-11-11 |
| Electromagnetic Systems division (GA-EMS) has successfully fired multiple rounds for the first time in a prototype of its new Blitzer electromagnetic railgun air defence prototype system. These tests were performed at the US Army Dugway Proving Grounds under a contract with the Office of Naval Research. Testing is scheduled to continue through to the second quarter of next year and will culminate with the launch of tactically relevant aerodynamic rounds, GA-EMS says in a statement. GA-EMS adds Blitzer will provide transformational, leap-ahead air defence capability against a number of threats for both naval and land-based applications. With a muzzle velocity of more than twice that of conventional systems, Blitzer provides significant increases in standoff and lethality at lower cost without the need for propellant or high explosives. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #12 Well there is the small self-contained nuclear reactor which the Japanese are said to be developing. I wonder if it could generate enough wattage. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-11-11 23:25 |
| #11 WMF > SOUTH KOREAN MEDIAS > ARTIC on gunboat clash between SOKOR, NOKOR indic that NOKOR gunboats were made in CHINA ["SHANGHAI"-class]; + that NOKOR's vessel had to fire its guns manually whilst SOKOR's were automatic = remotew fired [ + more ammo]??? On a separate nore, FREEREPUBLIC > ASTEROID [2009 VA] PASSED 8700 MILES FROM EARTH - WITH ONLY 15 HOURS WARNING. May explain the GIANT FIREBALLS repor on TOPIX??? RAILGUNS FOR, SSSSSSHHHHHH, OWG-NWO + SPACE DEFENSE??? * "UFO" TV SHow > SHA[A]DO Agency = S-UPREME H-EADQUARTERS, A-LIENS AND A-STEROIDS DEFENSE ORGANIZATION??? CHIEF WIGGUM > CUE THE SHORT-SHORT MINISKIRTED BRITISH MOON/SPACE BASE BASE IN GO-GO BOOTS SLOWLY SLINKILY WALKING IN FRONT OF THE FILM CAMERA, LOU! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-11-11 21:08 |
| #10 An oldie but a goodie - short video of railgun test. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-11-11 19:10 |
| #9 In the near future railguns are about air defence for ships. Onboard nuclear power preferred. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2009-11-11 16:31 |
| #8 The rail gun system had a breakthrough some years ago when the size of inductors and capacitors was radically reduced. In this case from so large they had to be carried on a railroad flatcar, to about the size of a suitcase. The generator uses a flywheel to gradually accelerate a mass to high speed, then apply a load to generate a heck of a lot of current, measured in megajoules. This energy goes through the capacitor and inductor as a bandpass circuit, and flows through a thin film conductor behind the projectile. The thin film instantly turns into a conductive plasma that violently expands, giving the projectile speeds of km/sec. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-11-11 15:27 |
| #7 Or a parallel series of 40,000 hamster wheels. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2009-11-11 15:16 |
| #6 No, it comes standard with a 5000 mile long extension cord. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2009-11-11 15:14 |
| #5 Absolutely. The generator set and it's crew will be right there with the weapon along with the gun crew. Perhaps they should be armoured? |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-11-11 13:37 |
| #4 I can answer that without ever seeing the machine. Military weapons carry their own Generators with them and are NOT dependent on ANYTHING else. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-11-11 13:08 |
| #3 No military background, but I have to wonder how viable a system is that requires magawatts of juice in a combat situation where your infrastructure can be disrupted by a single hit? Hope there's gonna be some purely mechanical backup. |
| Posted by: Percy Omaiper7354 2009-11-11 13:00 |
| #2 Tesla lives! |
| Posted by: borgboy 2009-11-11 10:13 |
| #1 and will culminate with the launch of tactically relevant aerodynamic rounds Man, THAT'S a long way to go to say 'live fire'. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2009-11-11 09:51 |