Razor's Edge Cooperative [PMT/SignUps/OOC]

[The United Remnants of America]

Most PMT nations will have a higher real GDP than their RL counterparts...

...but I still haven't added GDP to Nayba Collective because it's so difficult to compare to any existing economy.

This nation doesn't really have an RL counterpart that I could think of, so, uh.

ech

JonTron is that you?

[The Lusitanian Federation]

This nation doesn't really have an RL counterpart that I could think of, so, uh.

ech

JonTron is that you?

maaaaaayyyyybeeeeeee

[The Lusitanian Federation]

*cricket sounds*

Can GPS guided shells be launched from a railgun?

I look like the guy with the questions...

[Calamity Tiger]

*cricket sounds*

Can GPS guided shells be launched from a railgun?

I look like the guy with the questions...

"Everything is Possible... Nothing is Impossible..."
~ A Guy

[The Unhallowed City]

*cricket sounds*

Can GPS guided shells be launched from a railgun?

I look like the guy with the questions...

The short answer is yes, but the long answer involves inquiry into how large you're willing to make these hypothetical shells.

[The Lusitanian Federation]

*cricket sounds*

Can GPS guided shells be launched from a railgun?

I look like the guy with the questions...

The short answer is yes, but the long answer involves inquiry into how large you're willing to make these hypothetical shells.

I was thinking 450 mm.

[The Unhallowed City]

The short answer is yes, but the long answer involves inquiry into how large you're willing to make these hypothetical shells.

I was thinking 450 mm.

Honestly, it sounds like you're just making a missile that happens to use a railgun for the initial launch.

[The Lusitanian Federation]

Railgun rounds are cheaper than missiles, are they not?

[Singaporean Transhumans]

Railgun rounds are cheaper than missiles, are they not?

but teh guidance man

[Admurai Shogunate]

I was thinking 450 mm.

Honestly, it sounds like you're just making a missile that happens to use a railgun for the initial launch.

Puppet of Korona Alliance and Owner of Koyanagi

Bolded Words = Reference to Koyanagi Latest Weapon ... Intercontinental Railguns Network (IRN)

[The Unhallowed City]

Railgun rounds are cheaper than missiles, are they not?

Not when you're making your railgun rounds GPS guided. At that point, they start requiring all the same things missiles do, with perhaps the sole exception of a payload.

[Admurai Shogunate]

Railgun rounds are cheaper than missiles, are they not?

Depend from the materials and tech.

[Vistora]

Railgun rounds are cheaper than missiles, are they not?

Not when you're making your railgun rounds GPS guided. At that point, they start requiring all the same things missiles do, with perhaps the sole exception of a payload.

In order to qualify as a missile, it usually has to be both self-propelled and carry an explosive payload. If it's a shell, it ticks the second box, but I'm pretty sure the most critical component is the self-propulsion.

In order to be guided (perhaps by a system more efficient than GPS), it needs not only a guidance suite but also a manner of maneuvering. Fins could work, in which case the shell might need to be saboted.

However, one of the primary reasons for using a railgun in the first place is to achieve extremely high muzzle velocities, thereby effectively making it a line-of-sight weapon that doesn't need guidance. High velocities also affect its steering performance for multiple reasons, not least the behavior of air at hypersonic speeds.

[The Lusitanian Federation]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

[Admurai Shogunate]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

Rod of God? It's weaker than Hiroshima Atomic Bomb

[The Lusitanian Federation]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

Rod of God? It's weaker than Hiroshima Atomic Bomb

If you don't make it big enough...

[Blakullar]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

Rod of God? It's weaker than Hiroshima Atomic Bomb

I partially get around that problem by fitting an antimatter explosive into the rod, which is more or less an orbit-launched ballistic missile system combined with a tungsten kinetic energy penetrator. The rod slams into the ground, the bomb detonates, and you get an artificial earthquake that can split open a mountain, let alone some hapless city.

[Vistora]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

If it's not explosive, it's generally not considered a "shell". But yes, railguns as they are currently developed are designed to fire non-explosive projectiles, relying exclusively on their preposterous kinetic energy to do damage. Doesn't mean they can't, but they just currently don't. A depleted-uranium coating over a ferrous core would be my reccomendation for a good, basic rail projectile. The uranium adds both mass and acts as a pyrophoric explosive, while the ferrous core is required to be influenced by the rails' magnetic field.

Don't listen to his lies! Actually, what's required is only that both sides of the projectile that contact the rails be highly conductive. I think only a coilgun requires a ferrous projectile.

[The Lusitanian Federation]

I could use my very own unobtainium to make those.

We call it Arcturium

Arcturium is a metal that was first discovered in planet Arcturus 1, a planet in the Arcturus star system. The first batch of arcturium ore was found near the mining colony Corvo (Formerly a science colony), and was now apparent, after several exploration missions, that the metal is as plentiful as was iron on Earth thousands of years ago. Some arcturium deposits were found in the Kuiper Belt.
Physically, arcturium is very simillar to hematite "crystals" when found in it's natural state. It has the same texture and brightness as aluminium when refined, has the same electrical properties as steel, is 140 times stronger than titanium and 2 times lighter than the same metal. It's melting point is a massive 3.920º Celsius or 7.088º Farenheit. It shields at least 30 types of cosmic radiation.
Arcturium is currently being used on munitions, tank armour and space ship armour as only arcturium can beat arcturium. Tests were made on sheets of refined arcturium of diferent thicknessess, a 120mm tungsten tank round was fired from a railgun at 3km a second at all sheets. At 20mm of density, it could make an armour piercing, fin stabilised round, fired at 3km a second bounce off. It was perfect for space travelling.

Warn me of any handwavyness and i'll remove it.

[The Unhallowed City]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

I'm marginally more curious about what you're mounting the railgun on than about the usage or weapon itself. Is this going to be some kind of siege platform?

[The Lusitanian Federation]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

I'm marginally more curious about what you're mounting the railgun on than about the usage or weapon itself. Is this going to be some kind of siege platform?

Something like this

[Vistora]

I could use my very own unobtainium to make those.

We call it Arcturium

Arcturium is a metal that was first discovered in planet Arcturus 1, a planet in the Arcturus star system. The first batch of arcturium ore was found near the mining colony Corvo (Formerly a science colony), and was now apparent, after several exploration missions, that the metal is as plentiful as was iron on Earth thousands of years ago. Some arcturium deposits were found in the Kuiper Belt.
Physically, arcturium is very simillar to hematite "crystals" when found in it's natural state. It has the same texture and brightness as aluminium when refined, has the same electrical properties as steel, is 140 times stronger than titanium and 2 times lighter than the same metal. It's melting point is a massive 3.920º Celsius or 7.088º Farenheit. It shields at least 30 types of cosmic radiation.
Arcturium is currently being used on munitions, tank armour and space ship armour as only arcturium can beat arcturium. Tests were made on sheets of refined arcturium of diferent thicknessess, a 120mm tungsten tank round was fired from a railgun at 3km a second at all sheets. At 20mm of density, it could make an armour piercing, fin stabilised round, fired at 3km a second bounce off. It was perfect for space travelling.

Warn me of any handwavyness and i'll remove it.

In order to shield against gamma and x-ray cosmic radiation, the material's density is absolutely critical. That's why lead is used to shield against high-energy ER. Other than that, the numbers are just extremely high, which would make it one royal pain in the ass to machine. If Arcturium is pretty much invincible, how do you bend, shape, and cut it for use? This is why titanium, which is actually quite abundant, is so expensive; it's so difficult to manufacture.

[The Lusitanian Federation]

I could use my very own unobtainium to make those.

We call it Arcturium

Arcturium is a metal that was first discovered in planet Arcturus 1, a planet in the Arcturus star system. The first batch of arcturium ore was found near the mining colony Corvo (Formerly a science colony), and was now apparent, after several exploration missions, that the metal is as plentiful as was iron on Earth thousands of years ago. Some arcturium deposits were found in the Kuiper Belt.
Physically, arcturium is very simillar to hematite "crystals" when found in it's natural state. It has the same texture and brightness as aluminium when refined, has the same electrical properties as steel, is 140 times stronger than titanium and 2 times lighter than the same metal. It's melting point is a massive 3.920º Celsius or 7.088º Farenheit. It shields at least 30 types of cosmic radiation.
Arcturium is currently being used on munitions, tank armour and space ship armour as only arcturium can beat arcturium. Tests were made on sheets of refined arcturium of diferent thicknessess, a 120mm tungsten tank round was fired from a railgun at 3km a second at all sheets. At 20mm of density, it could make an armour piercing, fin stabilised round, fired at 3km a second bounce off. It was perfect for space travelling.

Warn me of any handwavyness and i'll remove it.

In order to shield against gamma and x-ray cosmic radiation, the material's density is absolutely critical. That's why lead is used to shield against high-energy ER. Other than that, the numbers are just extremely high, which would make it one royal pain in the ass to machine. If Arcturium is pretty much invincible, how do you bend, shape, and cut it for use? This is why titanium, which is actually quite abundant, is so expensive; it's so difficult to manufacture.

I knew those numbers were extremely high, but i needed something like a "miracle metal". I don't even know if i should invoke the Rule of Cool on this one or call it Yeahrightium.

Just another one of my handwavy "plot drivers"

[Vistora]

In order to shield against gamma and x-ray cosmic radiation, the material's density is absolutely critical. That's why lead is used to shield against high-energy ER. Other than that, the numbers are just extremely high, which would make it one royal pain in the ass to machine. If Arcturium is pretty much invincible, how do you bend, shape, and cut it for use? This is why titanium, which is actually quite abundant, is so expensive; it's so difficult to manufacture.

I knew those numbers were extremely high, but i needed something like a "miracle metal". I don't even know if i should invoke the Rule of Cool on this one or call it Yeahrightium.

Just another one of my handwavy "plot drivers"

A long while back, when I was but a wee lad, I created my own set of wanky materials called the Vitruvides. One was a black metalloid called Tenebrium (it held the world's sharpest edge), and was quite similar to how you describe Arcturium.

[Admurai Shogunate]

I wasn't thinking about adding a payload to the shell. What about a solid tungsten anti-fortification kinetic penetrator, like a railgun launched "rod from god".

If it's not explosive, it's generally not considered a "shell". But yes, railguns as they are currently developed are designed to fire non-explosive projectiles, relying exclusively on their preposterous kinetic energy to do damage. Doesn't mean they can't, but they just currently don't. A depleted-uranium coating over a ferrous core would be my reccomendation for a good, basic rail projectile. The uranium adds both mass and acts as a pyrophoric explosive, while the ferrous core is required to be influenced by the rails' magnetic field.

Don't listen to his lies! Actually, what's required is only that both sides of the projectile that contact the rails be highly conductive. I think only a coilgun requires a ferrous projectile.

Did you referring me?
Please use Her not His

(Gawd ... I hate my Tomboy personality)