Rail Guns

[m-16 a2]

Many si-fi shows have ships with rail gun emplacements. Is there some reason why raiil guns would be more useful in space? Or is it just that the sci-fi shows take place in the future? Would space prevent the friction that melts the barrels in current designed rail guns? Or is it just that they are very accurate and extremely fast? If anyone would like to talk about other weapons, feel free to.

[freyr's mother]

Many si-fi shows have ships with rail gun emplacements. Is there some reason why raiil guns would be more useful in space? Or is it just that the sci-fi shows take place in the future? Would space prevent the friction that melts the barrels in current designed rail guns? Or is it just that they are very accurate and extremely fast? If anyone would like to talk about other weapons, feel free to.

Because there is no air friction to slow the projectile down, so in space it maintains its velocity and there is a high kinetic energy involved with the impact. The bigger the projectile, the more force at impact. It is actually only in the one type of railgun that the barrel melts. That is the one with parallel rails.

[Lord batchi ball]

How do rail guns fire?
-is it commpressed air
-is a charge of some kind

[freyr's mother]

How do rail guns fire?
-is it commpressed air
-is a charge of some kind

Electromagnets

[Lord batchi ball]

Thank you for answering,but howndo magnets work inspace with no polarization or is the elecriticy do all the polarizing?

[Davesg-43]

electro magnetic pulses

[turbo1889]

Thank you for answering,but howndo magnets work inspace with no polarization or is the elecriticy do all the polarizing?

First, every magnet is polarized regardless of its size, type, or surroundings (including the near vaccum of outer space).

Second, I'm not sure if the bullet itself is magnetic or just made of a feromagnetic material (like steel).

I think most sci-fi shows have reached the conclusion that the various problems with this technology will be solved in the near future and thus it is the cheap, dumb, plentiful, and effective weapon of the future. Thus most war ships will be equipped with them either as offensive or defensive armerment -- Just like machine guns today, even the most advanced missle cruisers of the current U.S. fleet still have machine gun nests for point defense purposes.

[Exiled Master]

Thank you for answering,but howndo magnets work inspace with no polarization or is the elecriticy do all the polarizing?

Magnets work in space. You just wouldn't have the luxury of using them for astrogation (navigating outer space) because there wouldn't be a local magnetic pole.

And EMPs have absolutely nothing to do with railgun operation. EMPs knock out electronics, they don't accelerate ferric projectiles to high velocities.

[Arania]

What turbo is describing is actually a gauss gun, not a railgun.

A gauss gun uses pulsed magnetic fields to accelerate a magnetic or ferromagnetic projectile to high velocity.

Railguns, on the other hand, use two paralell rails (hence the name railgun) to accelerate a projectile via use of the lorentz force.

Both are fairly effective weapons in space due to the fact that neither produces excessive recoil like a chemical projectile weapon. Railguns are a slightly better choice over railguns because railguns have no upper limit on the projectile's kinetic energy. It's only limited by the barrel length and how much power can be supplied.

As for the issue of friction deteriorating the rails: That has nothing to do with thier inclusion on starships, and has to be managed via other means.

[Zatnikitelman]

Both are fairly effective weapons in space due to the fact that neither produces excessive recoil like a chemical projectile weapon.

They will exert a recoil. Anything that exerts a force exerts the same force in the opposite direction. Just like you could theoretically deorbit the shuttle by throwing ping pong balls out the hatch the right direction!

[m-16 a2]

ust like machine guns today, even the most advanced missle cruisers of the current U.S. fleet still have machine gun nests for point defense purposes.

Actually, there not really machine guns. There Phalanx point defense miniguns. Six rotating barrles.

[Lord batchi ball]

One killer railgun would be one that fires low yield thermal nuculear warheads with a set distance to stop acdential explosions thus you get a very deadly and muti firing weapons system

[ManiacMike]

A railgun is a form of gun that converts electrical energy (rather than the more conventional chemical energy from an explosive propellant) into projectile kinetic energy. It is not to be confused with a coilgun (Gauss gun). Rail guns use the magnetic pressure force to drive a projectile. Unlike gas pressure guns, rail guns are not limited by the speed of sound in a compressed gas, so they are capable of accelerating projectiles to extremely high speeds (many kilometers per second).

[Jyral Nadreth]

Railguns are very similar to the attemps by the USAF at creating a plasma cannon- the only difference is whats being fired and the p0lasma ignition system. Thats it!!!!!!!!!!! Railguns at the moment are troublesum because of the friction created in the barrel in an atmosphere melts the gun(Stargate compensates for this REAL problem by using Trinium)

[Exiled Master]

One killer railgun would be one that fires low yield thermal nuculear warheads with a set distance to stop acdential explosions thus you get a very deadly and muti firing weapons system

I believe immhotep conceived of a far more elegant design that required no warhead or explosive lens. (And I feel a real life analogue is possible, so kudos for him)
Just use K and Nq (see season 1; singularity) in a magnetic accelerator (like a railgun). When the slug strikes a target, a potent nuclear reaction occurs between the potassium and Naquada.