F-22Raptor
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I think this video is supposed to show that's it's within reach or they've already go itI guess longevity of the barrel is the biggest hurdle to overcome now.
The smoke is a result of lubrication and the corrosive ablation of the rails through which 5 million amps are channeled. During discharge, ablation strips both lubricant and small amounts of material from the rails, vaporizes them and they are expelled along with the projectile. Add a cloud of particulate matter with heat generated by the electric current, both being expelled during discharge, and you get smoke and flame, even though the railgun itself doesn't use an explosive charge to propel its projectile.
Here we can see some of that particulate matter being expelled alongside the projectile.
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The projectile is also superheated as a result of this process, adding to its penetration capability and conflagrating materials not generally flammable under normal conditions. In essence the real life version of "a hot knife through butter."
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Desired accuracy: able to hit vehicle sized target at maximum range.
Realized range: 200+ NM.
The firing range is at Dahlgren, on the Patomac River. I can hear the tests from where I live.
Largely yes. There will be some lingering issues, one's any large cannon faces, such as noted above with corrosive ablation (a minor routine maintenance issue), but yes, the issue with barrel deterioration has been addressed adequately.
Bloody excellent! I'm hopeful it can be compacted as the setup, sans gantry, is still pretty large, though we also need to recognize that the power packs will be replaced be ship engines lowing the overall footprint. The autoloader looks great, smooth action, but the size of the assembly could use a reduction.
This of course isn't a final product, but a step in a final direction. Great progress though, it's really coming together. Lasers, railguns, what's next?