Railgun
By lex, on May 11th, 2010
General Atomics constructs one:
Two million amps launch a guided projectile at twice the speed of a conventional gun, but at much lower cost than the usual surface-to-air missile systems outfitting most naval ships. General Atomics is working on a cannon that can launch an airburst round at a rate of one per second. Each round dispenses sub-projectiles, so its equivalent to firing 14,000 rounds a minute, which is a higher rate of fire than the Phalanx close-in weapons system, says Tom Hurn, General Atomics director of advanced weapons systems.
Groovy.
Oh, and the senior service is getting the XM-25 “Individual Airburst Weapon” in Afghanistan this summer.
Your scribe was relieved to learn that “individual airburst weapons” have different connotations for the Army than they did for the Navy, back when he was a young officer coming off a long line period at sea and in close proximity to a critical contact of interest.
Them as knows, knows.