shieldfoss:

argumate:

mugasofer:

We have the ability to level terrorist camps? Revolutionary.

the real trick would be to figure out how to stop making new ones, amirite??

We have the ability to level terrorist camps? Revolutionary.

Well actually.

Ok the phrasing is poor but it kind of is? Today, if you want a camp in Afghanistan leveled, here are the options:

Cruise missile from ship/plane (STUPID expensive. $1.5 million per shot expensive. The only advantage is that you don’t need to be close to the enemy.)

Bomb from plane. (Cheaper for the bomb but the plane costs a lot. The US’s cheapest bomber costs $63k per hour. You can cut that in half by using a strike fighter instead but then you’re spending time flying back and forth to re-arm and re-fuel. Also planes can be shot down.)

Grenade from artillery. (The cheapest for the grenade – practically free. The most expensive otherwise – you need to control land close to the target which means ongoing warfare.)

So if we can add the option “Grenade from ship far away,” that will be the very best. As cheap as artillery, as fast as local air assets, as safe as the cruise missile.

Sorry, shieldfoss, but you’re wrong. The distance from the coast of Pakistan (the Arabian Sea) to the southern border of Afghanistan is over 400km. Which is greater than the US Navy’s ambitions for railgun range. Even if they managed that distance (and they have neither the capacitor nor materials tech yet), they’re still only firing solid slugs of tungsten, not explosive warheads. By the time a tungsten slug has flown even a generous 300km arc (the world is round and ballistic trajectories aren’t flat), it only has a fraction of the energy it had when it was shot. Maybe still enough to punch through a tank, but not anywhere like what it takes to level a camp. 

Railguns are ideal mid-range line-of-sight weapons. Good for taking out incoming antiship missiles at ranges where attenuation makes lasers inefficient. Good for punching through the sides of enemy ships. Not good for area attacks.

A First Look at America’s Supergun