tech geek Space Weapons and military technology of the Final Frontier

[W_L]

Whether you are a fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, or any number of space dramas, one thing is inescapable about our vision of space exploration: we wil need something big to shoot with.

 

I know this can devolve into a political issue rather easily, but I want to discuss the technology aspect.

 

Take Lasers for example, scientists have been developing theoretical designs for laser weapons since the 1980's and now we're seeing real life applications:

 

 

 

Beyond lasers, other weapons are on the experiumental table from plasma based bolts to electromagnetic disruption technology to old fashioned rail guns

 

There's a lot of technology to cover and a lot of innovations around the world

[Brayon]

I've always been a fan of the rail-cannon. The USNavy has a fully functional system in sea trials. That can be adapted to space, as it's reactionless, and uses magnets to launch solid metal chunks. It would have the velocity that the ship was moving at, plus the additional speed from the launch cannon.

 

It's also a staple of the SciFi genre.

[JamesSavik]

Pentagon's New Super Weapon

 

Kinetic Bombardment (wikipedia)