ottarrus
Emperor Mongoose
I'm a military historian and as such I keep a fair tab on developing weapon systems and procurement. A lot of the time, this has given me some good insight into the technologies of Traveller and other sci-fi properties.
But I have some questions for you physicists /engineers on the board about Gauss weapons.
The US Navy has recently abandoned their rail gun initiative for several reasons, but one of the big ones is the huge amount of energy require to fire a projectile at hyper-ballistic speeds.
I've also seen people on youtube who've built magnetic projectors... 'mag-rail guns'...
One common factor is that these weapons make a HUGE amount of noise for their size. In the case of the 'mag-rail guns', it's almost as much as using combustion propellants.
But the Navy is testing projectiles that are 100mm in diameter and the 'mag-rail' guys are firing ball bearings. These displace a lot of air as they travel, and that obviously contributes to the report of the weapons.
So my question is this:
Would a Gauss weapon, firing an aerodynamic projectile [such as the 4mm flechette of the Traveller Gauss Rifle], actually be a quiet at multiple Traveller rules sets have claimed?
If possible, I'd love to see some kind of proof as to yes or no... even a youtube video or Popular Mechanics article would be helpful.
Thanks all
But I have some questions for you physicists /engineers on the board about Gauss weapons.
The US Navy has recently abandoned their rail gun initiative for several reasons, but one of the big ones is the huge amount of energy require to fire a projectile at hyper-ballistic speeds.
I've also seen people on youtube who've built magnetic projectors... 'mag-rail guns'...
One common factor is that these weapons make a HUGE amount of noise for their size. In the case of the 'mag-rail guns', it's almost as much as using combustion propellants.
But the Navy is testing projectiles that are 100mm in diameter and the 'mag-rail' guys are firing ball bearings. These displace a lot of air as they travel, and that obviously contributes to the report of the weapons.
So my question is this:
Would a Gauss weapon, firing an aerodynamic projectile [such as the 4mm flechette of the Traveller Gauss Rifle], actually be a quiet at multiple Traveller rules sets have claimed?
If possible, I'd love to see some kind of proof as to yes or no... even a youtube video or Popular Mechanics article would be helpful.
Thanks all