Caltrops - Operation: Hammer Time





	[quote name="Chairman Mao"][quote name="t0ny"]as a matter of fact, the article I read back in the day did mention them using flywheels. I would have to say that, at this point in time, and assuming there was actually continous funding, that they should be way beyond first generation at this point. Also, with recent scientific advances, this stuff would have to significantly have improved in the last few years alone.[/quote] I mean first-generation deployed; laboratory models don't count. [quote]I'll see if I can find a recent article. The old one had some approximate figures regarding range and velocity. If memory serves, it was able to break the sound barrier with its projectile, but was limited to firing about once every hour or half hour, due to the need to power the batteries back up for the 'jolt'.[/quote] They're talking muzzle velocities of around 6000m/s. That is quite a bit faster than the speed of sound. More like 20x. There were some photographs floating around of a 12"x12"x12" block of aluminum that had been impacted with a plastic projectile fired from a laboratory rail gun. It was splattered like parrafin. The 'batteries' were large banks of water-filled capacitors charged with hard current. They don't really have optimal charge times. Aerogel caps are somewhat more encouraging. [quote]A few years ago I was following along on an amateur rail gun project by some college student, but kind of lost interest. I had intended to build one myself, but 1. it wouldnt fulfill my fantasies of shooting a penny thru a wall, and 2. the rail gun in quake 3 was both more accessible and less work.[/quote] I did build one myself, as well as a coil gun. I didn't get stupendous muzzle velocities, but it was kinda neat. I tried to use the coil gun to shoot wads of plasma from a jacob's ladder mounted inside. It didn't work. [/quote]