Wow...........

[AVGWarhawk]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,327205,00.html

[CCIP]

:o:o:o:o:o

Those are the first pics/video I've seen of the new railgun in action.

That is AWESOME

[Sea Demon]

200 Nm range. :huh: I wonder if these projectiles have a targeting system capable of raining these down on enemy surface ships. I guess this will go on the new DD(X)/CG(X) when they are built.

[SUBMAN1]

I am having a hard time downloading this! Ughhh! I want to see! I want to see!

-S

[Blacklight]

It seems like the video link went down or was taken away by those creepy guys in the black suits and sunglasses who fly those black helecoptors and such.:nope:

[Urspankd]

I saw a video of them testing the railgun at Dahlgren. I believe it is on www.liveleak.com (http://www.liveleak.com) and do a search for FIREPOWER. There are some other cool videos on there as well. I cant get it run on my work computer or I would link it

Here is the same one on another site:

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2007/012007/0130railgun

[Syxx_Killer]

That thing is awesome! Boy, it would be so cool if the battleship could make a comeback. Imagine an Iowa with a set of those puppies! :o:rock:

[Brag]

All the latest weapons coming into operation will make the aircraft carrier obsolete.

[Koondawg]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd9_1189715172 (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd9_1189715172)


Nice pic also...:up:

[sonar732]

That thing is awesome! Boy, it would be so cool if the battleship could make a comeback. Imagine an Iowa with a set of those puppies! :o:rock:

This railgun is what is stopping the Iowa class from coming back. The non-classified release of the range from fas.org is 13nmi for standard and 63nmi for ERGM. Below is the fas.org's (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/weaps/mk-45.htm) write up on ERGM.

Raytheon TI Systems' ERGM is a rocket-assisted 5" projectile that will be fired from the 5"/62 MK 45 Mod 4 Gun Mount. It incorporates a rocket motor and internal Global Positioning System (GPS) coupled with an Inertial Navigation System (INS). The coupled GPS/INS will provide autonomous guidance and control to a fixed target location determined prior to firing. The rocket motor will provide range capability far in excess of current ballistic projectiles (Threshold range - 41 NM; Objective range - 63 NM). The warhead will consist of a highly effective submunition payload of 72 XM80 Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) over a selectable 20-100 meter area with 10-20 meter accuracy, thanks to GPS-aided guidance.. The combination of the extended range and GPS/INS position accuracy will provide significantly improved performance to meet NSFS mission requirements. A planned Improvement Program (P3I) is underway that will explore ways to expand ERGM's capabilities and reduce its cost. Beginning in 2002, about 50 Aegis cruisers and destroyers will be outfitted with the 5-inch/62-caliber ERGM capability.

So, if the rail gun expands the range of a MK 45 5inch gun by 3...that would place a Mark7 3,000lb shell landing at 60 miles.:o:o

Due to the cost of refurbishing an Iowa class, I don't see it happening. Don't get me wrong...I'm one of the ones who would love to see them back.

[Officerpuppy]

During the Gulf War they used a BB as a giant artillery platform, but I guess it was too expensive to maintain so now it's a floating museum if I'm not mistaken.:cry:

[sonar732]

During the Gulf War they used a BB as a giant artillery platform, but I guess it was too expensive to maintain so now it's a floating museum if I'm not mistaken.:cry:

Both the Missouri and Wisconsin were stationed off of Kuwait for gunfire support. In fact, the Missouri alone launched 28 Tomahawks and had a Silkworm missile land 700 meters in front of them after it was intercepted by a British AAW launched from a ship nearby. The Wisconsin served as the TLAM Strike Commander.

The cost of modernizing Iowa and Wisconsin is estimated to be somewhere around $500 million for reactivation and $1.5 billion for a full modernization program.

Have faith though...the 109th Congress has requested that options are in place to allow the remaining battleships to be in decent condition for a possible future reactivation.

[AkbarGulag]

All super guns need autonomous defence. This crowd in NZ has been manufacturing the perfect defence sentinels for a while now....

http://www.tgrhelicorp.com/snark.htm

For unasisted operations... or you can drop men off the skids with it and tell the chopper to come back for them later. I like some of the sales features...

MISSIONS

Long Range Reconnaissance
Fleet protection
Sub Hunting
Personnel Insertion
Medivac Two Stretchers on landing gear
Offensive Sortie Naval or Land Targets
Search and Destroy

[Blacklight]

I want one to shoot at the squirels off of my back deck !!!:D