Railguns

Geek Out

Watch An Electromagnetic Rail Launch Fighter Jet At 386km/h

6:30PM December 23, 2010 | Adrian Covert

Not content with their recent, record-breaking tests of weaponized railguns, the US Navy is also intent on using the technology to launch fighter jets from aircraft carriers. And they successfully did just that with an F/A-18E Super Hornet. More »

It’s Like Bringing A Mach 7 Railgun To A Knife Fight

5:40PM December 11, 2010 | Adrian Covert

This US Navy-developed railgun is not to be trifled with. In recent tests, this weapon fired a electromagnetically-charged projectile at 8,000 KPH, generating a staggering (not to mention record-setting) 33,000 megajoules of power. More »

This Railgun Annihilates Targets 160km Away In 6 Minutes

5:59AM December 11, 2010 | Jesus Diaz

In the near future, US Navy ships will not use explosive cannons. They will destroy targets 160km away with the monster 33-megajoule railgun in the video. In the words of Rear Admiral Nevin P. Carr: This “really changes several games”. More »

Science

NASA Could Launch Scramjets From Massive Railguns

12:40PM September 15, 2010 | Clay Dillow - PopSci

With the Space Shuttle program winding down, NASA and several commercial ventures are developing technology that will hurl the next iteration of space vehicles into the sky. But NASA acknowledges that rockets aren’t the only – or the best – way to get into space. More »

Geek Out

Navy Rail Gun Test DESTROYS Everything It Touches at 9,077 kph

8:30PM February 1, 2008 | Gizmodo US Edition

The US Navy has just completed a 10-megajoule test fire of their huge rail gun. For the first time ever, they fired a projectile with a velocity of 2,521 metres per second. That’s an amazing 9,077kph, and the gun is only firing at a third of its potential power. The other video shows you what the projectile looks like when loaded.

More »

Geek Out

BAE Delivers World’s First 32-Megajoule Rail Gun (To the Good Guys)

8:37AM November 15, 2007 | Wilson Rothman

Like every other red-blooded American boy, I enjoy the notion of propelling a piece of lead at up to Mach 8 and at “extreme” ranges. That’s why I was glad to hear that BAE Systems has delivered a rail gun capable of such feats, and that the US Navy signed for the package. More »