High Tech Future Navy Weapons

This is another cool thing about Virginia.  We test the Navy weapons of the future.

Check out the railgun.  It fires slugs so fast it may as well be a solid ray of deadly steel.

From Fox News here:

DAHLGREN, Va. —  A futuristic weapon getting a trial run by the Navy demonstrated its destructive power at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren.

In the demonstration Thursday, engineers fired the electromagnetic railgun at what they said was a record power level: 10 megajoules.  Railguns use electromagnetic energy to launch projectiles long distances — more than 200 nautical miles.

According to the Navy, the railgun, when fully developed, will be able to launch solid projectiles at Mach 5, or about 3,700 mph.

I used to build aircraft carriers.  I know how awesomely powerful our ships are.  Our navy has not been challenged in almost 70 years.  With a friggin rail gun powered by a nuke plant, who’s to stop us at sea?