Star Wars-like weapon will be on public display at Naval Base San Diego in July
Railguns use an electromagnetic force -- known as the Lorenz Force -- to launch a projectile between two rails. A high-power electric pulse is delivered to the rails, where a magnetic field is generated.
The result: A 23-pound projectile can be hurtled at speeds up to Mach 7 and travel more than 100 miles. And the cost of each projectile is about $25,000. That’s 1/100th the price a conventional missile, Klunder said.
San Diego Union Tribune
I'd like to understand the targeting system(s) used to pin point bad guys at up to 100 miles away but I'm pretty sure that will be classified for many years to come. I have to wonder how this weapon system will change the engineering of future war ships, this weapon system requires a lot of electricity and specialized electronic components to function. The peace time/disaster response dividend is that ships with rail guns will have enough electrical generating capacity on board to power an entire city.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
