Ship attack anyone?
Thread Starter
Ship attack anyone?
Looks like railguns are going to be viable.
New Navy Railgun Tests Leading to Ship Superweapon by 2020 | Office of Naval Research Railguns | Innovationnewsdaily.com
Game changer I suspect.
New Navy Railgun Tests Leading to Ship Superweapon by 2020 | Office of Naval Research Railguns | Innovationnewsdaily.com
Game changer I suspect.
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needs a bloody large battery I expect - and an even bigger electric fuse
when you think of it the old 14 Century cannon has worked pretty well as a basic design - the only real changes are composite charge & warhead and breech loading
when you think of it the old 14 Century cannon has worked pretty well as a basic design - the only real changes are composite charge & warhead and breech loading
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Sadly for the Royal Navy it will be a none starter, leaves on the rails would leave the UK version sitting in the station.
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--- and wire wound barrels, drop forged barrels, rifling and base bleed. Apart from that, not much change.
I wonder how the, no doubt, massive magnetic field is contained to avoid interference with sensitive ship systems?
I wonder how the, no doubt, massive magnetic field is contained to avoid interference with sensitive ship systems?
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And all the crews watches. 
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Probably the same way the systems in the lab aren't affected. Would be great to see the return of the Battleship, can't help but think that these shells would be slightly cheaper than cruise missiles...Not to mention space concerns. Whack a reactor in the belly and you've got a running cost cheap platform.
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JGG
With reactors already on aircraft carriers, depending in the guns size,
would it not be an option to install one on them for protection ?
With reactors already on aircraft carriers, depending in the guns size,
would it not be an option to install one on them for protection ?
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"I wonder how the, no doubt, massive magnetic field is contained to avoid interference with sensitive ship systems?"
If they think they can control the effects of the EMALS rails on the carriers, this won't be much different,
If they think they can control the effects of the EMALS rails on the carriers, this won't be much different,
Thread Starter
Shielding is highly conductive, dissipating the external field as eddy currents.
That's a copper box to you, chief.
Technology is straightforward compared to this
CMS detector at CERN. 50 foot high, 100 000x Earth's field, weighs 12 500 tons, cooled to -271 degrees. Quite green too, using titanium recycled from Soviet subs and bits of old NATO artillery shells.
Data from this has probably accelerated railgun development.
That's a copper box to you, chief.
Technology is straightforward compared to this
CMS detector at CERN. 50 foot high, 100 000x Earth's field, weighs 12 500 tons, cooled to -271 degrees. Quite green too, using titanium recycled from Soviet subs and bits of old NATO artillery shells.
Data from this has probably accelerated railgun development.
Game changer I suspect
No mention of the rate of fire or how often the gun liner will have to be changed.
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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Absolutely! No Certificate of Compliance, no shooting, "Sorry Skipper, HE & S says 'No'!"
(And Work Place Safety want a bigger office).
(And Work Place Safety want a bigger office).
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dead pan
I was thinking the same thing. All well and good chucking a shell that far but it needs to hit the target.
Maybe the US has or is planning a shell that has it's own fins/guidance system once it gets close.
Re the shape of the item he loaded into the gun, what was with that ?
It looked like a half shaft shape piece of metal from a truck !
I was thinking the same thing. All well and good chucking a shell that far but it needs to hit the target.
Maybe the US has or is planning a shell that has it's own fins/guidance system once it gets close.
Re the shape of the item he loaded into the gun, what was with that ?
It looked like a half shaft shape piece of metal from a truck !
Thread Starter
There will be the usual selection of terminal guidance toys in the nose of the "bullet" I imagine, once they've figured out how to protect same from the EM fields/g-forces.
The test round was deliberately high drag, for "indoor" testing.
maybe not fins at that high speed; perhaps some kind of directional venting at the base of the round.
The test round was deliberately high drag, for "indoor" testing.
maybe not fins at that high speed; perhaps some kind of directional venting at the base of the round.
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500N, Dammit man, don't start the navy down multirole lane too... It needs more ships not less. Besides, Battleships are just the epitome of death.
Anyway, the carriers need aircraft before they need a defence.
Anyway, the carriers need aircraft before they need a defence.
Evertonian
maybe not fins at that high speed; perhaps some kind of directional venting at the base of the round.
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I'm not sure how this technology (rate of fire, guidance etc) would change anything wrt ship attack. The technology already exists to make the task suicidal with free fall or short range weapons in the open ocean - and pretty hard with long range stuff or in the littoral.
With CAP, phased array radar, vertical launch SAMs, decoys and CIWS you really don't need a rail gun.
If you ever see yourself fragged for ship attack, pick up the Yellow Pages and give dial-a-sub-Faslane a call - they'll have far more fun!
With CAP, phased array radar, vertical launch SAMs, decoys and CIWS you really don't need a rail gun.
If you ever see yourself fragged for ship attack, pick up the Yellow Pages and give dial-a-sub-Faslane a call - they'll have far more fun!
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dead_pan. From the article;
Fox3WheresMyBanana. Supressing external EM fields as eddy currents does, indeed, look a likely solution but not especially simple.
U.S. Navy commanders ultimately want a weapon capable of firing up to 10 guided projectiles per minute at targets up to 100 miles away.
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I'm not holding my breath regarding the weapon actually being used on an operational warship. we have heard lots of claims about the development of weapon systems that are 'game changers' but when push comes to shove there is no shove..
IF this ship did become operational then what type of battle group would protect it? I should imagine any submarine in the same ocean will hear the thing when that pop gun makes a noise and once heard it is in a whole heap of doo doos unless it has the ability to defend itself.
The Zumwalt class is allegedly using state of the art weaponry which can possibly do whatever this system might be able to achieve.
IF this ship did become operational then what type of battle group would protect it? I should imagine any submarine in the same ocean will hear the thing when that pop gun makes a noise and once heard it is in a whole heap of doo doos unless it has the ability to defend itself.
The Zumwalt class is allegedly using state of the art weaponry which can possibly do whatever this system might be able to achieve.
The Navy gets very excited about this idea (and about lasers) because they may be the only ones who can use it, since the only way to make it mobile is to stick it somewhere in several thousand tons of grey steel and make it float.
They also love it because it could mean a ship doesn't have to carry large amounts of gun propellant, which has been a factor in too many cases to count of rapid auto-disassembly affecting naval vessels.
On the other hand, they have a hell of a long way to go to turn this into a weapon, and the power requirements could force them into a new ship.
Update: Why in the name of Cthulhu does this board's SW render the acronym formed by "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation" as "l@ser"?
They also love it because it could mean a ship doesn't have to carry large amounts of gun propellant, which has been a factor in too many cases to count of rapid auto-disassembly affecting naval vessels.
On the other hand, they have a hell of a long way to go to turn this into a weapon, and the power requirements could force them into a new ship.
Update: Why in the name of Cthulhu does this board's SW render the acronym formed by "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation" as "l@ser"?
Last edited by LowObservable; 1st Mar 2012 at 13:36.