Railgun research by the U.S. military

The United states navy has been working on a railgun for military purposes. The experimental railgun is shown firing on the left. It can fire a projectiles at speeds up to 12 miles per second and as a range of over 100 miles!

The railgun is intended to be mounted on a war ship and used at long range. The power would be provided by the ships nuclear power plant. The high speed of the projectile means that it would be much more effective than today's gun powder weapons. The speed of the projectile is so great that it will partially vaporize its target

With railguns replacing modern explosive there would be no concern about unexploded bombs after battle. For example, in France, every once in a while you will hear about someone being killed by a leftover unexploded bomb for WWII. Since railguns use solid metal projectiles instead of explosive shells, this would no longer be a concern.

The navy's railgun research has come a long way since it started, but it still has a very long way to go. The main problem is that the rails are severely damaged by arcing with each shot and repair is very timely and expensive.