General Atomics displayed its railgun graphics at its booth during last week’s Association of the United States Army annual meeting in D.C. When inquired about the inclusion of the long-canceled program efforts, Mike Rucker, Head of GA-EMS Weapons, stated that the company has pitched its railgun for the Golden Dome initiative.
*“Just the idea of the muzzle velocity and the standoff capability, and particularly from our perspective, from a terminal defense for air [and] missile defense. Just this with the tungsten pellets as the warhead,”* Rucker told *Naval News* regarding railgun air defense potential.
A General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems’ infographic states that the company’s multi-mission railgun system can fire projectiles up to Mach 6 speeds. Three variants of the railgun were listed, ranging between three to 32 megajoules of energy capacity. The company also claims that these systems are capable of intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles.
Fehafare on
Naval defense I get. But given drones and blot out the sky missile barrages being two go to tactics in modern warfare (at least given some recent contexts) , isn’t some kind of laser system much more sensible for air defense? Like what is a rail gun targeting in the air besides individual aircraft? Which I assume are to a large degree already addressed quite well by existing systems?
Turns out the guys who made Fallout were on to something.
General Atomics is one of the companies that schemed to bring about the end of the world in the game, so they could have a monopoly of the surface when civilization was rebuilt. Unsettlingly similar how the backstory in the game and real life events are playing out lately.
redredgreengreen1 on
Given the current technical limitations, using them against ballistic missiles might be the only practical use for these things. You basically have to refurbish them every couple times they fire, but if you’re shooting down nukes you don’t really give a shit as long as they keep operating for 10 solid minutes. They need massive amounts of power, but if they’re in fixed positions you can just hook them into the local grid, or maybe a dedicated power plant.
The drone aspect though… Yeah, no dice.
pinkfootthegoose on
once again with this stuff. Railguns have trouble carrying high explosives and reliable electronics due to the extreme acceleration. Was the idea of a rail gun stupid? No. Are their niche applications? Undoubtedly. Are there cheaper and/or more effective alternatives in this use case? Yes.
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General Atomics displayed its railgun graphics at its booth during last week’s Association of the United States Army annual meeting in D.C. When inquired about the inclusion of the long-canceled program efforts, Mike Rucker, Head of GA-EMS Weapons, stated that the company has pitched its railgun for the Golden Dome initiative.
*“Just the idea of the muzzle velocity and the standoff capability, and particularly from our perspective, from a terminal defense for air [and] missile defense. Just this with the tungsten pellets as the warhead,”* Rucker told *Naval News* regarding railgun air defense potential.
A General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems’ infographic states that the company’s multi-mission railgun system can fire projectiles up to Mach 6 speeds. Three variants of the railgun were listed, ranging between three to 32 megajoules of energy capacity. The company also claims that these systems are capable of intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles.
Naval defense I get. But given drones and blot out the sky missile barrages being two go to tactics in modern warfare (at least given some recent contexts) , isn’t some kind of laser system much more sensible for air defense? Like what is a rail gun targeting in the air besides individual aircraft? Which I assume are to a large degree already addressed quite well by existing systems?
They don’t work and will never work well until we can master unlimited energy supply in a small, lightweight container. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqhXsUwncfE
Turns out the guys who made Fallout were on to something.
General Atomics is one of the companies that schemed to bring about the end of the world in the game, so they could have a monopoly of the surface when civilization was rebuilt. Unsettlingly similar how the backstory in the game and real life events are playing out lately.
Given the current technical limitations, using them against ballistic missiles might be the only practical use for these things. You basically have to refurbish them every couple times they fire, but if you’re shooting down nukes you don’t really give a shit as long as they keep operating for 10 solid minutes. They need massive amounts of power, but if they’re in fixed positions you can just hook them into the local grid, or maybe a dedicated power plant.
The drone aspect though… Yeah, no dice.
once again with this stuff. Railguns have trouble carrying high explosives and reliable electronics due to the extreme acceleration. Was the idea of a rail gun stupid? No. Are their niche applications? Undoubtedly. Are there cheaper and/or more effective alternatives in this use case? Yes.