Sailing the High Tech Seas

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October 25, 2014 by JImbo

Navy Unveils Practical Railgun Capable of Shooting 100 miles in 45 seconds

According to this Navy link they have already fired a 32MJ weapon.

Huh.

Back in April they had only done 10 MJ (Megajoules) and said they would test the bigger one “on a transport ship sometime in 2016.”

Now they’re already taken the thing out and fired it and 2014 isn’t even over?

What military programs EVER work that fast?

Unless they meant the “military grade” version. The ones they’re shooting now at 32 MJ shoot those funny looking flat headed test “bullets.”

The “real” ones will be pointy like real artillery shells.

Or missiles.

They are doing preliminary work on the 64MJ version too.

That one should be able to shoot TWICE as far (in theory.)

Imagine that.

it still won’t let the Navy shoot into Afghanistan or very far into Iraq with it from the water. However, anything within 200 miles could be TOAST.

It also fires 10 shots a minute.

That’s one every 6 seconds.

Going over Mach 7.

Imagine those HUGE battleships with their 16″ guns.

Yes they’re impressive.

However, the 64MJ cannon will shoot:

5 times as fast,

3 times the speed,

10 times as far,

with serious penetrating power.

 

 

All that from a relatively small mount.

The 16″ gun turret was over 400 tons by itself!

It took 80 men to fire it.

Now a couple guys on a destroyer can do a helluva lot more damage.

 

This isn’t “new” per se in that it’s shooting bullets fast to destroy stuff. However, the SCALE at which it’s advanced is amazing.

And accurate!

 

What’s next on the Navy’s plate?

Well LASERS OF COURSE!

It’s official. It’s tested and now deployed off of the Iranian cost.

Not a huge range, but it doesn’t run out of “ammo” as long as the ship is still running and producing electricity.

 

So we have railguns and lasers.

What else could the Navy be working on?

Making Fuel From Seawater of course!

Granted it’s not “clean” per se. It’s still just the same as burning the existing fuel (kerosene, diesel, natural gas, etc)

However, it’s AVAILABLE and not too much more expensive than it is now. Given that the Navy pays to buy the fuel and ship it across the globe, the cost to get TO the ship is quite a bit more than it is to fill up your car at the fuel pump.

So, it doesn’t save money (yet) but it means a ship… or whole fleet really… doesn’t have to go into port very often. They only go into vulnerable docks and piers when they need to let people off or resupply consumables (food, ammo, etc)

Even then those can be taken by ship if needed, so our ships COULD stay safely out at sea and avoid the fate of the USS Cole, attacked while in port refueling.

Additionally, it would take a lot more water and not be quite as stable as a fuel… but the ships COULD use just straight Hydrogen fuel. When it’s burned it gives off… water vapor. That’d be clean.

It’s also quite a bit dangerous…..

and bulky (even compressed and liquified/chilled Liquid Hydrogen is 11 times lighter than jet fuel) On the other hand, it is really light which could be good for airplanes as a fuel (or radar blimps that can stay up for days on end)

And, if you’re making it constantly on the ship you don’t need to store a lot of it at any one time… in theory (unless something happens to your fuel maker machine and then you’re out of luck.)

 

Unlike the whole “Mulberry Version 2” thing I just posted, THESE are some actually innovative, creative ideas for making our Navy much more effective.