Prototype Navy Rail Gun Hits Mach 7!

If you are an avid action gamer, then I'm sure you have played your fair share of action games that included a rail gun in your arsenal. Back when I played games in high school, I remember a game that went by the name of "Tribes." It was an online multiplayer game where you flew around in a jet pack and wielded many weapons including a rail gun. Once a weapon of games and movies, has now become a reality and is looking very promising for the US Navy in terms of becoming a "game-changing" weapon. Two years ago, the US Navy was able to achieve an 8 megajoule blast using the prototype rail gun. In just a span of two years, that 8 megajoule feat has now climbed to 4 times that! At 33 megajoules, the prototype rail gun is capable of spitting out a bullet-like projectile (that is quite heavy) and is able to hit a target from 100 miles away at Mach 7. The Navy plans to double the targeting distance by the time these guns find their official home on the decks of many battleships.

The gun is quite bulky, however, because the ammunition is much cheaper than conventional missiles and other explosive rounds, it is looking more and more ideal to install rail guns and removing the rocket launchers and missile docks that are scattered all over battleships at present. The benefit of installing rail guns and ridding the ships of missiles is that there will no longer be rooms full of missiles and other dangerous explosive ammunition. The ammunition is cheaper and the distance at which targets can be reached will be a huge jump from what missiles can currently hit. This is a huge advance in military weaponry and anyone on the receiving end of the bullet originating from the rail gun will definitely not know what hit them as I'm sure this bullet is capable of penetrating even the most armored vehicles or buildings.