Railgun vs. Faey Armor

[Astardis]

Hello,


while reading Subjugation I came across an idea about the railgun and the armor faey troops are using.

First of all, it was stated that the gun can penetrate the outdate armor of the faey soldiers on earth and I suppose it can probably penetrate the advanced armor as well.

If Jason would now get the specific kinetic energy needed to pierce only one side of the armor and programs the railguns to generate enough kinetic energy to penetrate one side but below the necessary amount to pierce through the second side of the armor it would effective trap a highspeed bullet inside of a metal can, bouncing from armor side to armor side, liquifying the body inbetween. Even the kinetic shock when the bullet impacts inside with the armor should kill the person easily. This way, he could make every armor more a liability than protection.

Astardis

[Spec8472]

If Jason would now get the specific kinetic energy needed to pierce only one side of the armor and programs the railguns to generate enough kinetic energy to penetrate one side but below the necessary amount to pierce through the second side of the armor it would effective trap a highspeed bullet inside of a metal can, bouncing from armor side to armor side, liquifying the body inbetween.

Has someone been reading the Posleen stories?

AFAIK, being hit by the railgun isn't going to be pretty, or particularly survivable - turning your armor into a blender probably wont do particularly more damage.

[Lochar]

Actually Spec, without the Smartgun system helping it, a railgun is only as good as the person aiming it is. The bullet moves so fast that a shot through the leg, while debilitating isn't killer. If Jason writes a worm into the Smartgun translation program so that any Faey that get ahold of the gun can't reverse engineer the software, he'd be saving himself a lot of trouble.

I shudder to think what a railgun mass produced with a working Smartgun system would do to the Faey. They wouldn't need to use Telepathy to take over worlds. You could send down a few dozen soldiers armed with these, and run rampant through a world. Instant kills.

But then again, how would the government stand up? If you have a problem with the current reign, load up a few suicidal people, send them in. They're bound to take hundreds with them.

[Spec8472]

Actually Spec, without the Smartgun system helping it, a railgun is only as good as the person aiming it is. The bullet moves so fast that a shot through the leg, while debilitating isn't killer.

Something passing through your body at faster than the speed of sound is likely to do some pretty horrible damage. Even if it's a clean hole straight through, it'd probably cause your body to go into shock.

Getting hit in the leg would probably mean a partial amputation (if you get hit below the knee), or full amputation (if above the knee).
If you were hit anywhere in the torso, would probably do some fairly major damage to internal organs.
Sure, the round would keep going through, and make a neat little tunnel on its way, but if the round happened to go through anything (bone, organs, etc), then it'd do some fairly major damage.

If you don't happen to have the ability to do surgical procedures, you'll be up a certain creek fairly quickly.

It more than likely wouldn't be instantly fatal, but I still don't like your chances.

PS: The aim is irrelivent if we're just talking about what happens when you're hit.

[Lochar]

True.

We all remember what happened when he shot at the hill. If Jason turned down the speed enough to pierce the first layer of armor, and then IMPACT on the second layer...

[canilash]

I was wondering...
By its description, the Railgun seems more like a gauss rifle (coil gun)
First, it has no rails, so it is not a rail gun.
Second, like I said, it is more like a gauss rifle, which uses simple electromagnetic coils activated successively to propel the projectile. A railgun uses another principle. go see the wikipedia for an explanation. I may have got it wrong, too

As for the sonic boom, it may be possible that the bullet is small enough that it does not compress enough air at it's front to create a supersonic boom. At the speed it goes, I think it could compress the air enough to create a nuclear fission at its front.

My observations were based upon modern knowledge of the science involved. Don't think I take it that seriously. I'm sure someone had made those observations before, and I don't care if its not really a railgun. By the description Fel made of it, I was thinking HEAD SHOT!

[Spec8472]

I was thinking HEAD SHOT!

No, Bad.
The world does not need another FPS Doug imitator.

[canilash]

I was thinking HEAD SHOT!

No, Bad.
The world does not need another FPS Doug imitator.

I was not aware this man existed, or that he had done something related to fps jokes. Is he the one who's saying BOOM HEAD SHOT ? I heard that once on CS.

Seriously, I really thought about the quake 3 railgun. The effect is similar.

[codewarrior]

I head a myth once that if some was to shot a needle at some ones head at the speed of sound that it go thru the skull and "suck" out the inside. I dont know how true this is or if the physics behind it would cause this to happen, but if this effect would happen...some one geting shot in the leg would more that incompassitate them. so i dont think it is nessicarry to cause the "bullet" to bounce back and forth in the armor. It seems to inhummane.

[montie1123]

Being a Marine i can tell you about one type ot anti-tank sniper round that DOES what i think this would do, only this would do it alot better. The round is shot at a tank from the side at its mid point (half way between the front and back) the round enters the side of the tank the size of a marble, exit about the size of a fist, but it moves so fast and the round is so hot that it makes the inside of the tank (which in a time of war is an oven when all hatches are closed, were talking in the 100s with 4 to 5 bodys swating like theres no tomarrow) the indes becomes like a vacum, all soft matter aka human body parts and the like get sucked inot the exit hole and most of the time atlest 2 bodys turn to jello from the froce. Im sure fay armor being hit like that the front would have a nice small hole, with a dent like the rock on the island, the back would have the small exit but if its a chest shot the insides wouls liquify from the froce. I have seen a 50cal snipe rifle hit a human body the froce it has is enough to rip an arm or leg off if it hits in those areas. A chest hit is an ugly picture the ribs turn to powder at the point of impact, and the organs turn to paste. This is why these in times of war onw is not allowed to shot at a peron with a 50cal under the ganiva convention, and the anit tank weapon im talking about is also not in use.

[Fiferguy]

It seems to inhummane.

It is, but then again, war is about killing. No matter how you slice it, a war is about killing people. In war there is no winning, there is only survival. As George Patton said, "A soldier's job is not to die for his country; it's to make the other poor bastard die for his country."

Given the fundamental over powering properties of the Faes' telepathy, I would think that a weapon such as the Railgun, no matter how gruesome it kills the enemy, would be a welcome thing. You could sit on a hill like a sniper a start shooting from a mile or so away, take out a few of them, and move to another spot.

It always amazes me, in over 40,000 years, the one constant above all others is that man is always looking for a better way to kill people. Kind of a sobering thought about the human species, huh?

Fifer

P.S. Montie, It's interesting that you can't shoot a .50 caliber at a man in times of war. How come the Navy Seals and Marine Snipers have .50 caliber sniper rifles? I talked with my Marine buddy, a retired sergant, and he says that though it is against the Geneva convention to shoot a big gun like that at a person, it's ok to shoot it at his canteen...the rules of war.

[codewarrior]

I think it is ironic that in there is such a think as "Rules" of war. War by is nature is chaos.

Okay enought of the deep stuff. But is the Faey got the rail gun. There would be no stopping the Faey. They would porblay enlage it so that it could launch astroid sized projectiles.

Lochar Wrote:

If Jason writes a worm into the Smartgun translation program so that any Faey that get ahold of the gun can't reverse engineer the software, he'd be saving himself a lot of trouble.

I agree that some thing should be done to stop the ploiferation of the rail gun. This technology is almost as bad a nuclear weapon. The rifle but it self is not that bad put it in tho the hands of the Faey Empire...... yea. bbesides a worm or a visru that destorys the progamming if the gun is tamperd with how about a small esplosive that blows when the case is opend it make it rall hard to figure out what saomething did when it is in peices.

[montie1123]

LOL yea the rules of war you cant shot a PERSON with a big gun but you can shot his EQUIPMENT ie his canteen, ammopouch or any other item that is classifed as equipment. Still makes for an ugly corpse though. thats also why radio men live 1.8 secs in combat wear snipers and artilery fire is coming in on them. That radio makes for a great target hehe.

[thisandthat]

... This is why these in times of war one is not allowed to shoot at a peron with a 50cal under the GC...

But you can shoot at equipment ... Belt Buckle, Back Pack, uniform shirt ...

[codewarrior]

Does camo face paint count as equipment?