Railguns are being examined for use as anti-aircraft weapons to intercept air threats, particularly anti-ship cruise missiles, in addition to land bombardment. The first weaponized railgun planned for production, the General Atomics Blitzer system, launches a streamlined discarding sabot round designed by Boeing’s Phantom Works at Mach 5 with accelerations exceeding 60,000 gn. During one of the tests, the projectile was able to travel an additional 4.3-miles downrange after penetrating a 3.2mm thick steel plate. The company has just released a new test video showing it in-action. Thus far, the project is self-funded. Click here to view the first image in today’s viral picture gallery. Continue reading for the five most popular viral videos today, including one of the Blue Origin rocket reentering the Earth’s atmosphere and then landing vertically.
