I like the idea of these rail guns. I notice that they are still in the development stages. And from the second video posted, that they are still working on the gun itself, and not so much on what ammo it uses. The ammo can always include smart technology, look at all of the different mods they can put on the older outdated dumb bombs to convert them. I think that even if we are not mass producing them, or even to make more than a dozen of them, the R&D that comes from them can or will be used for future endeavors, both military and civilian. I am sure that the NASA, and the air force would both love this tech in their space programs. As to how useful on the battlefield, well that will always come to what ordinance is best or available for the given situation. As to accuracy of the rail gun, or even the cost of operation is an invalid point at this stage of development of the gun. With more information on the gun itself, the barrel can be made of better materials or have better coatings. Same with the ammo. A better capacitor system can be made for a faster RoF. Even cooling, (water/coolant), of the barrel and heat generating parts. There wasn't even a mention of an auto loader for the gun in the 2nd video. On the cost of R&D for this, it is in the best interest of our military to provide funding for it, even if it is not a feasible weapon, we will know more about how to track other countries that are employing it, and what it's weak points are. I would imagine that an EMP weapon could very well turn a rail gun's computer/control system into relative junk, or at least raise the cost of it's shielding up greatly.
Fascinating. Mach 7 is roughly 5000 mph isnt it? I wonder though, this would be very good for small targets, as something that is moving that fast surely dosnt have a lot of collateral damage. It just seems the mushroom effect would be nearly non-existent on target, but horrible after impact (everything behind it). Also depends on what its hitting. Heh, they should have it explode 1000ft before impact, then its like a shotgun!
No-one has ever dared to tell me to bitch about whatever somewhere else. A couple have on the net but never irl, as the only way anyone could do that is when hiding behind a monitor. So who needs a railgun when you can be as tough as you like from a keyboard! I wonder how many weapons the world needs before we all say "hrmmm, i think we have enough now"
