Hope of destruction. Mac gun of the present. Mac gun of the future. Railgun. Naval Surface Warfare Center test firing in January 2008[1] Railguns have long existed as experimental technology but the mass, size and cost of the required power supplies have prevented railguns from becoming practical military weapons. However, in recent years, significant efforts have been made towards their development as feasible military technology. For example, in the late 2000s, the U.S. Navy tested a railgun that accelerates a 3.2 kg (7 pound) projectile to hypersonic velocities of approximately 2.4 kilometres per second (5,400 mph), about Mach 7.[3] They gave the project the Latin motto "Velocitas Eradico", Latin for "I, [who am] speed, eradicate".
In addition to military applications, railguns have been proposed to launch spacecraft into orbit; however, unless the launching track was particularly long, and the acceleration required spread over a much longer time, such launches would necessarily be restricted to unmanned spacecraft. Basics[edit] Schematic diagram of a railgun ). Coilgun. A coilgun (or Gauss gun, in reference to Carl Friedrich Gauss, who formulated mathematical descriptions of the magnetic effect used by magnetic accelerators) is a type of projectile accelerator consisting of one or more coils used as electromagnets in the configuration of a linear motor that accelerate a ferromagnetic or conducting projectile to high velocity.[1] In almost all coilgun configurations, the coils and the gun barrel are arranged on a common axis.
Coilguns generally consist of one or more coils arranged along a barrel, so the path of the accelerating projectile lies along the central axis of the coils. The coils are switched on and off in a precisely timed sequence, causing the projectile to be accelerated quickly along the barrel via magnetic forces. Coilguns are distinct from railguns, as the direction of acceleration in a railgun is at right angles to the central axis of the current loop formed by the conducting rails. History[edit] Construction[edit] A single stage coilgun. Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. “That MAC gun can put a round clean through a Covenant Capital Ship.” The Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, also known as Mass Accelerator Cannon,[1] MAC Gun and MAC Cannon, is a large coilgun that serves as the primary offensive weapon for UNSC warships.
Larger versions, nicknamed "Super" MACs or the "big stick", are used as orbital defense platforms. MAC guns are the only non-nuclear weapons in the UNSC arsenal capable of effectively reducing or destroying Covenant capital ships' energy shields. Smaller shipborne versions can take as many as three hits to overload a shield while an orbital platform can put a hole through any Covenant vessel even with fully charged shields. Overview Edit The operation principle of a MAC is that of a coilgun. Mounting Edit The size of a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon is such that it is normally an integral component of a warship's structure. Ammunition Aiming Firing The firing process uses electromagnetism to fire a ferromagnetic-tungsten slug at high velocity. Types.