The Navy's rail gun has been in the news since quite some time, it uses electromagnetic pulses, instead of gunpowder to fire. The projectiles travel real fast the demonstration model got a little over 10 megajoules at around 5600 mph. When the system is completed it will fire projectiles at six times the energy at 64 megajoules (around 13000 mph). To give you an idea of the rail gun's power the 8 joule test shot had an impact force of that the Navy describes as being the equivalent of “hitting a target with a Ford Taurus at 380 mph.” Plus, the gun should be able to hit a 5 meter target from 200 nautical miles away while pumping out 10 rounds per minute.

(One more video and link to high-res images after the jump)

High-res pics: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

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