On the horizion...

There is a very interesting set of technological advances being fostered by the U.S. Navy. Wretchard at the Belmont Club has a good pr�cis on them: A very brief excerpt -- talking about rail guns bq. To put things in perspective, our current 5-inch gun has a muzzle energy of 10 megajoules. ... In contrast, naval rail guns will achieve muzzle energies from 60 to 300 megajoules. ... Research indicates that a notional first-generation naval rail gun could deliver a guided projectile with an impact velocity of Mach 5 to targets at ranges of 250 miles at a rate of greater than six rounds per minute. What is being talked about here is the comparison between a conventional powder-fired gun and a gun whose projectile is launched by electrical forces. This will be very interesting to follow in that the projectiles are inert with minimal chemical or radiological 'issues' but the energy they deliver can be calibrated to the task at hand and aimed with precision...