The USN is progressing in its railgun testing and hopes to have one of two finalists on a ship in 2016:
http://arstechnica.com/information-techn...un-to-sea/
Direct to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl...tszh_6Sl1s
One of the interesting features in that video (to me) is the projectile's flight: It has a nice, controlled spin thanks to its fins. Or the sabot. Or the barrel. Its spinning when it emerges from its sabot, so I'm not quite sure what started the spin. Anyway, it looks like the quadrail musket is here.
Another is at the beginning: the railgun recoils. Great googly moogly, I don't know how many internet arguments I've been in trying to communicate that, yes, electromagnetic projectile accelerators will experience recoil, too. Just because magnetic fields are involved doesn't exempt them from Newton's laws. I might have to do some thread necromancy...
http://arstechnica.com/information-techn...un-to-sea/
Direct to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl...tszh_6Sl1s
One of the interesting features in that video (to me) is the projectile's flight: It has a nice, controlled spin thanks to its fins. Or the sabot. Or the barrel. Its spinning when it emerges from its sabot, so I'm not quite sure what started the spin. Anyway, it looks like the quadrail musket is here.
Another is at the beginning: the railgun recoils. Great googly moogly, I don't know how many internet arguments I've been in trying to communicate that, yes, electromagnetic projectile accelerators will experience recoil, too. Just because magnetic fields are involved doesn't exempt them from Newton's laws. I might have to do some thread necromancy...
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama