Electromagnetic railgun launches fighter jet for the first time

[YosemiteSam]

It would be really cool if you could use this for commercial aircraft. You could fit many more runways in the place of a single runway which would drastically reduce the wait time on commercial flights.

However, you still need long runways for landings.

They are developing human teleporters for that. I just wonder how they will utilize induction technology with those.

 

[theogt]

Magnets... how do they work?

One of the most frustrating points in my life was when I realized that no one really knows why gravity exists.

 

[casmith07]

Can you really make aircraft carrier smaller? You still need size for storage (of aircraft) and crew.

You could have "light" carriers that had fewer of the other extras and carried almost exclusively planes...kind of like the M2 Bradley is to the M1 Abrams, know what I mean?

That seems a profoundly ineffectual analogy.

Do you need these things to launch drones? I really have no idea how large drones are, though presumably they're smaller than your typical fighter jet.

For the types of drones they're talking about, yes. They are about the size of a small jet plane.

For the smaller drones that are used right on the battlefield, no - some like the Raven are hand-launched.

 

[theogt]

You could have "light" carriers that had fewer of the other extras and carried almost exclusively planes...kind of like the M2 Bradley is to the M1 Abrams, know what I mean?

It appears the plan is to just put them on the new Ford-class supercarriers. As I suspected, the cost and testing has been a real problem.

Here's something I hadn't thought of:

Emals can also be set to lower energy levels than a steam catapult, allowing it to launch small, lightly loaded aircraft like unmanned aerial vehicles.

 

[rkell87]

so i guess they have figured out how to maintain the system for prolonged, repetitive use? the problem with this tech has always been power usage and and structural integrity after prolonged use due to rapid, repeated heating and cooling

 

[WarC]

Eh? Pointless? You've got to be kidding?!?! This technology blows away the steam powered catapult the Navy uses on aircraft carriers today! :laugh2:

Thats correct. What a lot of people don't understand is how much goes into operating an aircraft carrier. China's been working for years to field their first aircraft carrier. The systems and technologies that go into it are very very costly.

This system'll be more efficient, it'll reduce maintenance costs, and it'll prolong the life of the aircraft it launches. Even though its just a ground test, the launch from this sytem already visually looks alot smoother than the old catapult system.

 

[kmp77]

more then likely stupid question time, out side of getting the planes up to elevatable speed faster what's the purpose of this or what could be used of this?

Smaller carriers? Anyone know how much smaller a carrier could be with a smaller deck using this?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

That seems a profoundly ineffectual analogy.

I would say a more apt analogy would be going from the M-14 to the M-16.

Do you need these things to launch drones? I really have no idea how large drones are, though presumably they're smaller than your typical fighter jet.

....................................................Wing Span.......Length

MQ-1C Grey Eagle (armed Predator).......56'.................28'

RQ-4B Global Hawk..............................131'...............48'

Israeli "Eitan"......................................86'................79'

Boeing 737 (most current models)..........117'..............138'

Another use for magnetic rail gun technology is waste disposal. Yeah, this is in my head and I have only ever read any mention it in any half-serious conversation on another website. Theoretically you can shoot something into space a helluva lot cheaper than you can fly it there. You want to get rid of nuclear waste? Set up a small scale nuclear reactor in the Atacama, a few rail guns, and start shooting containers of nuke waste out of Earth orbit.

Feasible? Hell I have no idea. Worth looking at? Possibly worth a gov't sponsored study.

so i guess they have figured out how to maintain the system for prolonged, repetitive use? the problem with this tech has always been power usage and and structural integrity after prolonged use due to rapid, repeated heating and cooling

The testing of the system showed 6800 actuations with no failures.

 

[kmp77]

Magnets... how do they work?

 

[burmafrd]

This technology took a long time to perfect and make it reliable. And it uses a LOT of electricity; rail guns are juice hogs like no ones business. Its questionable that the earlier carriers could have their generating capacity increased sufficiently without extensive modifications. That is another reason its only going on the next generation carriers. There are so many electrical demands that only the newest ones have the generating capacity. As pointed out this type of catapult is much more easily regulated; making it much more flexible.

 

[casmith07]

Smaller carriers? Anyone know how much smaller a carrier could be with a smaller deck using this?

Smaller, but more importantly, faster carriers.

 

[casmith07]

This technology took a long time to perfect and make it reliable. And it uses a LOT of electricity; rail guns are juice hogs like no ones business. Its questionable that the earlier carriers could have their generating capacity increased sufficiently without extensive modifications. That is another reason its only going on the next generation carriers. There are so many electrical demands that only the newest ones have the generating capacity. As pointed out this type of catapult is much more easily regulated; making it much more flexible.

Good thing we've got one of the world's largest electricity generators - the ocean.

All that water flowing over a turbine to generate renewable electricty used to charge this thing and this thing only. I like.