[lincer556]

Electro Magnetic Launcher
- Miniature Rail Gun -



- EML attached on CFA-44 - Railgun Illustration 1 - Railgun Illustration 2 -

ORIGIN: (Real World)
United States of America

GAMES FEATURED IN:
Ace Combat 06: Fires of Liberation

COMPATIBLE AIRCRAFT:
CFA-44 Nosferatu

OVERVIEW:
The EML (Electro Magnetic Launcher) is a rail gun that uses a small electro magnetic pulse in the forward direction. It fires a solid piece of heavy metal such as tungsten, using electromagnets to propel it instead of gunpowder. The EML has nearly limitless range so long as the target stays in the reticule.

Rail guns are fired using high current, high voltage electricity. One rail has current moving towards the end of the barrel the other rail has current running in the opposite direction. The high current in the rails causes a very large magnetic field to occur when a shell is placed between them, thus completing the circuit between the two rails. The projectile is pushed along the rails due to Laplace Forces (a phenomenon associated with current carrying objects in a magnetic field). This force is very high for a high current object in a very strong magnetic field. Railguns can propel the projectile to speeds of a few kilometers a second. That's Mach 8.8 at sea level. About 8 times faster than most explosive fired projectiles.

Electrical conductivity of both Tungsten and Uranium is fairly low. So heating of the projectiles is very high with such a high current. Tungsten is usually favored over Uranium because of it's higher melting point and better conductivity, but damage to the rails can occur because of the high heat from electrical resistance and friction. Rail guns usually fire a Sabot type projectile with separating jacket to guide the penetrating round down the barrel. This also helps to increase conductivity by allowing some of the electricity to bypass the less conductive Tungsten round.


SOURCES:
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation - In-Game Data
Wikipedia for pictures

ACREDITATION::
PhantomPhanatic for rail gun info
GAG-E for main picture

[Ribbon-Blue]

How large do you think the EML projectiles are? I think they might be over 30mm, but under something like... 100mm.

[Tazuren]

40-50-mil, maybe.

I think this may be a coilgun. A coilgun is very similar to a railgun.

[kuroi tsubasa]

But wasn't the EML clearly mentioned to be a railgun in the ingame description?

[Roaches]

EML, Railguns, and Mass Drivers are all the same category. The only difference is the size of the device would receive such a name. EML is just a scaled down version of the railgun that fires small projectiles while Larger EML devices are called Railguns/Mass Drivers for their sheer size and their usage term.

Heck, I can already see the future, if EML devices like this become a reality in the real world, the possibilities and destruction by one of these would be amazing, imagine a EML device mounted on aircraft that would fire a 30mm tungsten rounds at the velocity of mach 10+ would render dogfighting obsolete as a single round from one of these would rip almost any aircraft apart.

[Apollo]

But wasn't the EML clearly mentioned to be a railgun in the ingame description?

Yes it was. BTW, would covering a round in, oh, let's say steel, increase it's conductivity?

[JianDaoXiao]

How large do you think the EML projectiles are? I think they might be over 30mm, but under something like... 100mm.

actually that kind of weapons don't need a big diameter of bullet to get a big damage... the damage is caused by the speed, not by the diameter...

[Tazuren]

actually that kind of weapons don't need a big diameter of bullet to get a big damage... the damage is caused by the speed, not by the diameter...

Right JDX. Plus the diameter would mostly be taken up by the discarding Sabot which would be there to promote conductivity. With the M1A1 the roud is mostly a sabot which discards after leaving the barrel and the destruction is caused primarily by the kinetic energy of the dart.

[Spades_Neil]

EML, Railguns, and Mass Drivers are all the same category. The only difference is the size of the device would receive such a name. EML is just a scaled down version of the railgun that fires small projectiles while Larger EML devices are called Railguns/Mass Drivers for their sheer size and their usage term.

Heck, I can already see the future, if EML devices like this become a reality in the real world, the possibilities and destruction by one of these would be amazing, imagine a EML device mounted on aircraft that would fire a 30mm tungsten rounds at the velocity of mach 10+ would render dogfighting obsolete as a single round from one of these would rip almost any aircraft apart.

I've recently looked into this, but unfortunately, it would be very impractical on an aircraft due to the recoil (which could tear the firing plane to shreds) and the insufficient power source. Rail guns on an aircraft; impossible.

Coil guns on the other hand are much more compact. I don't know about the power source, but I do know that a coil gun would be more practical. However; the air force is looking more towards lasers than electromagnetic launch style weaponry.

[Gryzayev]

what's the difference with gauss type gun ?

[Tazuren]

what's the difference with gauss type gun ?

A Gauss gun; or Coil gun; utilizes Electromagnetic coils to send a round "downrange" whereas the EML utilizes two Electromagnetic rails to send a round "downrange".

Also, I sent a PM yer way giving you links to the Wikipedia articles on Railguns and Gauss guns.

[mithril]

lincer556, on 11 April 2008 - 11:05 PM, said:

The high current in the rails causes a very large magnetic field to occur when a shell is placed between them, thus completing the circuit between the two rails. The projectile is pushed along the rails due to Laplace Forces (a phenomenon associated with current carrying objects in a magnetic field). This force is very high for a high current object in a very strong magnetic field. Railguns can propel the projectile to speeds of a few kilometers a second. That's Mach 8.8 at sea level. About 8 times faster than most explosive fired projectiles.

actually it's Lorentz force. Laplace was a totally different researcher, with nothing ot do with electromagnetism.

also, unless there is specific info on the EML's projectile velocity, the specifics about 'mach 8.8" and "8 times faster than conventional projectiles" don't really fit.

Quote

Electrical conductivity of both Tungsten and Uranium is fairly low. So heating of the projectiles is very high with such a high current. Tungsten is usually favored over Uranium because of it's higher melting point and better conductivity, but damage to the rails can occur because of the high heat from electrical resistance and friction. Rail guns usually fire a Sabot type projectile with separating jacket to guide the penetrating round down the barrel. This also helps to increase conductivity by allowing some of the electricity to bypass the less conductive Tungsten round.

while the conductivity of DU and tungsten is low, in realworld military railgun prototypes they're also not the conductive element. the projectiles planned for use are usually DU encased in tungsten, but they're designed as APFSDS rounds. a metal dart in a plastic or ceramic sabot, with a conductive "plate" at the rear to interact with the rails. this plate is usually copper or gold, for best efficency.

the heat a railgun experiances has little to do with the conductivity, and much mor to do with friction. the projectile/sabot has to remain in contact with the rails the entire time it's being accellerated, which causes immense friction. this heats the rails and causes them to erode on the surface. it is this erosion that causes railguns to have a sizable muzzle blast, despite the lack of burning gasses. the erosion also means the rails have to be replaced on a regular basis (currently, after about 10 shots for the navy's prototype)


a more accurate write up would be thus:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The EML (Electro Magnetic Launcher) is a rail gun, a weapon that fires projectiles without the use of explosive propellants. Rail guns employ two charged rails instead of a traditional barrel. making an electrical bridge between the rails causes the creation of Lorentz forces, which accellerate the object forming the bridge. the level of accelleration from this force is dependant on the amount of power flowing through the rails. with sufficent energy levels, a railgun can exceed the velocities of conventional projectiles.
The typical railgun projectile is a Armor peircing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot round made of Tungsten or other dense metal. this projectile is surrounded by a Sabot, a sleeve of non-conductive material that falls away after leaving the weapon. in a rail gun, this sabot is constructed with a copper or gold conductive plate at the base to bridge the rails. during firing the Sabot and projectile generate high amounts of friction on the rails of the weapon, creating immense amounts of heat.
the vigh velocity and small size of the projectile give the EML a very long effective range.

[Protostealth]

From what I know, the EML in multiplayer is far less dangerous than in the main campaign (as in strong enough aircraft being able to survive more than a single impact.) Can anyone confirm?

[Tazuren]

Protostealth, on 20 October 2011 - 10:29 PM, said:

From what I know, the EML in multiplayer is far less dangerous than in the main campaign (as in strong enough aircraft being able to survive more than a single impact.) Can anyone confirm?

I've one shot other players with the EML in MP.

[Protostealth]

How about aircraft with stronger defenses (ie. download aircraft)?

[Roaches]

Mostly two shot from a distance, and 100% oneshot at gun range from my experience in MP.