A railgun is a weapon that uses a pair of electrically conductive rods or rails to accelerate a projectile as a result of the electromagnetic forces acting on the projectile as it conducts electricity between the two rods.

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Design Edit

Railguns work best firing low-mass projectiles at high velocities and rate of fire. Projectiles from 1-10 grams are recommended, though extremely low-mass projectiles can sometimes have trouble penetrating kinetic armor and can be easily vaporized by Whipple shields.

Railguns can fulfill a wide variety of roles depending upon design. They are excellent point defense weapons for taking out missiles and drones, especially when grouped, but can also be useful for ship-to-ship combat. Clusters of small turreted railguns rapidly firing high velocity projectiles can make surprisingly short work of even large enemy missile and drone fleets.

Material Choices for Railgun Design Edit

Rails can be made of a wide variety of materials but a highly conductive metal is suggested. Zirconium Copper and Aluminum Copper Lithium are solid choices. Osmium and Tungsten can also be used if the design runs into problems with thermal expansion stress or beam deflection stress, at the cost of weight. Less conductive materials can be used but the rails will need to be shorter or thicker to ensure that the projectile undergoes consistent acceleration and the length of the barrel is fully utilized.

Armature material should also be conductive and strong to withstand acceleration. Vanadium Chromium Steel is recommended for its absurdly high tensile strength and decent conductivity and therefore can be launched at high velocities with comparatively short barrels without the projectile shattering. Many of the same materials that make for good rails also make for good armatures.

Barrel armoring is more dependent upon the role that the railgun is meant to fulfill. A material with a high Young's Modulus can help to increase the range; particularly if one is using long, thin rails. Diamond and Amorphous Carbon are solid choices. Graphite Aerogel works well too but Railguns armored with it are prone to being destroyed by lasers easily.

Capacitors are strongly recommended to achieve respectable muzzle velocities. The two best materials are Hafnia and Biaxially oriented Polypropylene. Hafnia caps are expensive, light and small. BoP Capacitors tend to be larger and weigh more but cost less to deliver the same amount of power.

Additional Notes on Railgun Design Edit

It is highly recommended that your railgun is mounted on a turret and has a reasonable firing arc and turning speed to be effective in combat.

Railguns are most efficient when launching very small projectiles. Though they can be designed to launch payloads, though if you're looking to launch a payload or simply hit the enemy with something a little heavier you might want to try a coilgun or conventional cannon. Because they launch such small projectiles and often have a very high fire rate, it is recommended you give your railgun a very large ammo capacity, ensuring that running out of ammo is a non-concern for any reasonably-long engagement.

If you're going to build a very large railgun it's a good idea to supply it with a lot of power and ensure that the fire rate is very high. There's no reason to build a gigantic railgun if it only fires once every 15 seconds.

Use Edit

Railguns are among the best standalone weapons systems available in CDE, and considered by many members of the community to be the best kinetic weapon ahead of both conventional cannons and coilguns. Railgun focused capital ships and drones can chew through even the toughest armor given enough time.

Trivia Edit