China Uses Giant Rail Gun to Shoot a Smart Bomb Nine Miles Into the Sky (tech.slashdot.org)
from 0nekoneko7@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 16:40
https://lemmy.world/post/15615022

#technology

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SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 17:03 next collapse

It might be a mistake to allow AI’s control of weapon systems.

NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 17:17 next collapse

because it apparently didn’t go up as high as it was supposed to, the test was ultimately declared unsuccessful.

Poor Chinese. They have yet to learn so much from Elon (hint: declare everything a success. NO. MATTER. WHAT.)

Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 17:42 collapse

One of my favorite Star Trek quotes of all time: “If the invasion had been considered a defeat Gowron would’ve been assassinated by now. He simply declared victory, and went home.”

School_Lunch@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 17:25 next collapse

I wonder how much more energy it took to accomplish that compared to just shooting a rocket. Last I had heard railguns weren’t really feasible because of the absurd amount of energy they would require even with perfect efficiency.

UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee on 20 May 2024 18:37 next collapse

It’s not the absurd amount of energy that’s the problem. It’s the absurd amount of energy that has to be STORED AND RELEASED within a fraction of a second in a controlled fashion.

If you wanna go electric, you would need a stupendous amount of capacitors and a gun that won’t get destroyed due to the immense energy release.

If u wanna go chemical (like an actual gun), u r faced with the same problem of the gun exploding.

The only approach that MIGHT work is the Spinlaunch thing, where u essentially store this energy as angular momentum in a THICCC carbon fibre rod. Spinlaunch is still yet to demonstrate anything remarkable, so there’s that.

[deleted] on 21 May 2024 00:09 collapse

.

GluWu@lemm.ee on 21 May 2024 03:35 next collapse

They replaced the CEO last week from the original founder. I’m not hopeful it isn’t all just a big cash grab that made a bunch of board members rich. Capitalism is ruining everything.

UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee on 21 May 2024 05:02 collapse

Yea, which is nothing. Plus altitude means nothing when u want to put stuff in orbit. It’s the initial velocity that matters for an apparatus like this.

Buffalox@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 18:43 next collapse

I’m no expert, but I could imagine rail-guns would be a huge advantage on nuclear powered vessels. For one the ammo doesn’t explode if hit by enemy fire, and I’m guessing the ammo would be super cheap. In theory you could shoot bars of iron.

EvilBit@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 19:29 next collapse

They might also have a much smaller launch signature, meaning harder response to a first-strike launch. But I’m not a physicist or nuclear deterrence expert or anything.

APassenger@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 23:32 collapse

When it’s not an experiment:

  • Do we know where it is?
  • Is it mobile?
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 03:54 collapse

This is the military we’re talking about.

They’ll turn a metal ring into a million dollar thing making sure it has 0 flaws on the surface that might cause 1 in a million shots to go off course.

Sabata11792@kbin.social on 21 May 2024 03:56 next collapse

If you have the opportunity to involve a giant rail gun in something, you do it.

guacupado@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 15:20 collapse

They’re not feasible because of the erosion of the barrel with our current level of materials science.

tsonfeir@lemm.ee on 20 May 2024 19:04 next collapse

If it’s so smart, why can’t it launch itself? 🤓

Zorque@kbin.social on 20 May 2024 19:27 collapse

Its so smart it gets something else to do all the work for it.

norbert@kbin.social on 20 May 2024 22:15 collapse

It's just a manager bomb, it failed into that position.

assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world on 20 May 2024 19:40 next collapse

A new space race with railguns would be the fucking coolest thing ever

4am@lemm.ee on 20 May 2024 20:47 next collapse

Spinlaunch has been trying to make a catapult-to-orbit out of a miniature hyperloop. Actually not as dumb as I made it sound (but it does have its own issues)

werefreeatlast@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 03:56 next collapse

Unless your upper half happened to be on the upper path of one of those things. Then it would probably be amazing for like a nanosecond. In the most macabre way I suppose. But just a nanosecond. After that when you fully realize what happened there probably wouldn’t be much you left to keep realizing anything past that.

assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 14:44 next collapse

It goes without saying that we should work out any safety issues before that

Duamerthrax@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 19:04 collapse

You can launch payloads into orbit with less pollution and for cheaper. You can build habitations with the material and bring humans up the traditional way.

Of course though, the powers that be are going to be more interested in killing each other.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 21 May 2024 19:18 collapse

until they use the tech to drop bombs more effectively

psmgx@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 01:57 next collapse

…a weapon to surpass Metal Gear

gari_9812@lemmy.world on 21 May 2024 18:11 next collapse

That’s horrifying… but TBH it also sounds kinda sick

acockworkorange@mander.xyz on 21 May 2024 20:47 collapse

And when I said that their “electric launch system” for “scientific space exploration” was just a public testbed for a missile launch system, a small army of tankies descended upon me.