Kinetic Energy Weapons - realistic battlefield option?

Partisan

Partisan

Active member
Chaps I've been wondering for a while as to how far the development of Kintetic Energy weapons have moved. I know that the USN has been testing the railgun, but wondered if anyone had heard who else is pushing forward with this? I remember being shown a video of Russians supposedly using them in Chechnya, several years ago.

Given the power required do you think that KE system is a realistic weapon of the future, if so how small will it get?
 
oh, that makes better sens. you mean like in the movie "Eraser"? Those are actually electic energy based more than KE based...
 
Yep, just like that, in fact that was what started the thread,c heck out the Arnie fan.

I've seen the videos of the railgun experiments, but they're 2-3 years old & I've heard nothing in the background, so I got to thinkingis there more out there that I'm not aware of - of course the answer is yes, but I'd still like to know.
 
I recall NASA had a thing about "magnetic rail cannons" some years back for a JIC scenario with asteroids. Using magnets to accelerate an item, whatever it may be, then launching it. I recall reading about it back in the early 80's, but then nothing more. I bet the power requirement is horrendous.
 
Maglev trains are based off the same concept of rail guns. They are incredibly efficient and work well.

However, as a military application, electromagnetic-based weapons are simply not feasible due to power requirements and resulting weight.

Not saying they dont exist... just saying it is unlikely to.
 
Exactly. You'd need a small nuclear power plant for anything of substantial power.
And maglev technology is awesome.
 
Spartacus said:
Maglev trains are based off the same concept of rail guns. They are incredibly efficient and work well.

However, as a military application, electromagnetic-based weapons are simply not feasible due to power requirements and resulting weight.

Not saying they dont exist... just saying it is unlikely to.
Click to expand...

That was my thought, have they been incorporated into a ship, which is probably the most portable thing with the potential to generate the power.
 
I had heard that the US Navy wanted to have a prototype on a ship by 2012 but that has been moved back to 2020 because of issues related to over heating caused by "firing" the weapon multiple times. Apparently the development of proper insulation and heat spreaders is years behind schedule, which one would think the insulation would be the easy part compared to say firing a 7kg projectile 200 miles without the use of black power. The Navy has moved away from steam catapults though and is using a magentic rail system similar to what you'd get on your maglevs in Europe.
 
7 kg? 200 miles? Unless it's guided, don't count on much accuracy.
Though I think that MagLev is a great idea for launching jets off of carriers.
 
It's going to be a very, very long time before you see rail or Gauss guns mounted on anything smaller than a warship. I know they have plans for a man-portable gasdynamic laser - but only plans. There's not even a prototype yet, it'll be decades before there is a power supply powerful and light enough to make it at all practical.
 
Long ago, people thought only birds can fly. Now we dominate the skies with jets and the civilian jumbo jets.
Long ago, people thought that TVs (when first introduced) would be a waste of time and would be a wastful product. Now, our eyes are glued to the TV all the time
Long ago, people thought that the computer would never get smaller and would only be used by the rich and the military.
Nowadays, people think that Kinetic Energy Weapons would be ineffective and expensive. In the future, the people would be blasting Kinetic Energy Weapons all over space along with other unexpected weaponary.
Conclusion: Yeah, I think from what humans have done, we will be able to do and invent everything if given the time.
 
The Railgun will at first appear as a naval artillery weapon. When it's practical to do so, expect them to appear on ground based artillery and MBTs, then heavy infantry and aircraft weaponry, a railgun pistol is a LONG way off. If it's not outright impossible in the first place.
 
Boy, mankind sure is impressive with the ability to find bigger and better ways to kill people in the name of war.

It's just too damn bad the same people can't instead find bigger and better ways to maintain peace and harmony instead....
 
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