Railguns
Railguns — Terra Invicta technology. First-generation magnetic weapons use magnetized rods to propel heavy slugs at enemy targets.
About Railguns
Railguns is a Terra Invicta technology in MilitaryScience with a research cost of 5,000.
First-generation magnetic weapons use magnetized rods to propel heavy slugs at enemy targets.
The future of weaponry is one without gunpowder, where electricity alone powers each killing shot. Railguns employ the foundational technology behind mass drivers to propel their projectiles at staggering speeds - with kinetic force to match. Our previous breakthroughs in electromagnetics have been refined to allow a remarkable degree of miniaturization. By flowing current through an elongated, magnetically-permeable rifle barrel (the sides of which are the titular rails), we can accelerate projectiles without the need for any explosive - achieving muzzle velocities far beyond even our most powerful explosive-based firearms. This is of great benefit to both impact and range. In consequence, slugs fired from these new railguns are able to pierce the densest of armor at extreme distances. The degree of energy involved does raise significant issues with regard to heat and recoil (railguns kick like the proverbial mule), but the more severe limitation is durability, due to the sustained physical contact required between high-velocity rounds and the rifle's charged barrel. Our researchers are, however, confident that subsequent discoveries in this field will bring about far more durable, and in turn far more powerful, electromagnetic weaponry. In the meantime, there is surely little that can stand against a railgun for long.