future weapons

ok i was messin around on my computer on thursday, when i found my old copy of C&C Tiberian Sun. Good game i thought, so i reinstalled it and began blowing stuff up (only virtually - i promise!).

anyway, i began to wonder if laser guns and plasma cannons were a near possibility for todays armies

could anyone tell me? and if so, how would they work?

Also could someone tell me:

a)how a railgun would work

b)if an ion cannon is possible and how it could possibly work

c)how do you define a pulse rifle

thanx!!!

here more qualified than myself...
but I'll take a stab...

a) A railgun as I understand it is using an electromagnetic force to propel flechettes at speeds faster than sound.

b) Sounds like the aim is to disrupt electronics, similar to an EMP weapon, by ionizing the air around the target.

c) I'd define a pulse rifle as shooting a pulse of energy/plasm towards a target. Initially, this will probably be done using ammunition that then ionizes the air around it, to increase the damage once it hits (not to mention, it'd look pretty damn cool), but eventually, we may be able to "packet" such bursts and control their flight.

Railgun info:

www.glubco.com...

A railgun uses a linear electromagnet to propel the projectile to extreme velocities. As envisaged in the Star Wars program, it was expected to boost the projectile to relativistic velocities of 0.5C or better. At such speeds, the projectile has enough kinetic energy to do enormous damage to a target without explosive warheads, and is capable of penetrating extreme thicknesses of almost any kind of obstacle.

Main drawbacks are that it requires massive amounts of electrical energy, and only partially effective inside an atmosphere (best suited to use in a vacuum)

An Ion Cannon is similar to the above rail gun, in that a massive electromagnet is used to hurl oppositely charged ions (charged particles) at very high relativistic velocities (0.9C or better). I am not sure realistically how much damage such a weapon could inflict, as it would take massive amounts of energy to project sufficient energy to penetrate a target.

As it stands, standard projectile weapons are the best, most efficient weapons on the modern battlefield so far (although rail guns may be catching up)

whats 0.0c mean? whats c?

C= Speed of light. 0.5C is half the speed of light. 0.9C is 90% of the speed of light.

jesus christ, if any projectile could reach half the speed of light that would be scary, imagine a rifle fired a bullet at 0.5C..

you could probably destroy a tank with a rifle...

1. It accelerates a slug to Near-Light-Speed at most by using electromagnetic energy.

2. Probably, ion cannons aren't my expertise.

3. Pulse rifles (Ill take the M4a1 from Aliens as he TS rifle is the same almost...) are only named like that because they fire ammo at an extremly high RPM in bursts, so that it is a pulse.

3. Pulse rifles (Ill take the M4a1 from Aliens as he TS rifle is the same almost...) are only named like that because they fire ammo at an extremly high RPM in bursts, so that it is a pulse. Posted by Necro999

Actually the basis for the M41 in Aliens was none other than the good old fashioned M-1928 Thompson .45 submachine gun. There are actually plans on the internet on how to build your own with a blank firing Tommy gun and a deactivated Remington 870 shotgun (the grenade launcher)

My seven shot Colt .45 since i was six

fanx evrybody u helped out quite a lot.

all this talk of railguns reminds me of that arnie film Erasor where the bad guys have man-portable railguns

as for the M41A, i was watching Aliens on sunday (good film) and i was thinking that it was a stylish gun for the Marines (my fav is Hicks). anyway i am stunned that it uses a tommy in its construction - DR do you have a link to this place that shows the construction plans, if so, kudos