Tau technology not so advanced after all

[Defenestratus]

We beat them to the punch by like, 38,000 years:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/11/navys-prototype-rail-gun-projectile-hits-mach-7-at-33-megajoule/

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/12/railgun-2010-12-11-600-2.jpg

[eldargal]

I fail to see how this has any practical application the way modern warfare is heading (ie by insurgent/terrorist proxies) but its still quite a nifty piece of engineering.

They should put their money into Webway technology if you ask me, much more interesting.:P

[Lockark]

I fail to see how this has any practical application the way modern warfare is heading (ie by insurgent/terrorist proxies) but its still quite a nifty piece of engineering.

They should put their money into Webway technology if you ask me, much more interesting.:P


They use it the same way they use ship artillery now. The only difference is now they don't need huge store rooms full of explosive material. Now they just need store rooms of capacitors.

[eldargal]

Oh I know how it is used, I just con't consider that it has any practical use given how warfare seems to be heading. But enough of that, don't want to derail the thread into a modern military discussion.:p

Railgun: Check.

Next thing on the agenda: Blue skinned girls.

[eldargal]

In thirty years time she is going to regret not wearing a bra.

[Defenestratus]

Oh I know how it is used, I just con't consider that it has any practical use given how warfare seems to be heading. But enough of that, don't want to derail the thread into a modern military discussion.:p

Railgun: Check.

Next thing on the agenda: Blue skinned girls.

eldargal: the ammunition magazine in any warship is a very vulnerable area of the ship that could be used to destroy the whole vessel. A USS Cole style attack targeting the magazine would lead to terrible loss of life. With rail cannons, you don't need all that pewpew.

Also, just because right now we're not engaged in nation-state warfare - doesn't mean that we wont ever be in the future. Just a thought :)

Plus, its friggin cool. A rail cannon - if you look on youtube, some kid built his own rail rifle that can shoot a slug like 20 feet :P

Just like the exoskeleton that will oen day be used to support personal tank like body armor, the problem is small, portable, powerful power sources.

Not that much of a problem for a battleship though :)

[steelmage99]

Yeah, Tau technology isn't so advanced after all because there is virtually no technological advancement behind making such a weapon man (suit)-portable, not to mention making the power-source more....elegant (ie not building-based). ;)

[Drew da Destroya]

Oh I know how it is used, I just con't consider that it has any practical use given how warfare seems to be heading. But enough of that, don't want to derail the thread into a modern military discussion.:p

Railgun: Check.

Next thing on the agenda: Blue skinned girls.

Well, you can't hide in a mountain if the railcannon blows the mountain into rubble! Also, you can replace "mountain" with any other suitable hidey-hole (building, bunker, abandoned oil platform).

Blue skinned girls can't be that far behind, though... I mean, we already have the Blue Man Group.

[BuFFo]

So if this is Tau Technology, will the BS of our forces drop to a 3 to match the Tau in ineffectiveness?

- edit -

inb4 "omg but humans are BS 3 in 40k".... I don't care. Just laugh damn you, LAUGH!!!

[Defenestratus]

Tau should be BS2.

Like all fish, their eyes are on the side of their head.

[DrLove42]

We beat them to the punch by like, 38,000 years:



*cough* on topic *cough*

The Tau as a race were living in caves and had only just discovered fire the last half of M35...so they've got to handheld railgun tech inside 6000 years from being cavetau.

I think they win

Lets face it we've beaten half the imperiums technology decades ago....cept for the whole space travel, physcic communication, bio augmentation stuff...:P

[Drew da Destroya]

Lets face it we've beaten half the imperiums technology decades ago....cept for the whole space travel, physcic communication, bio augmentation stuff...:P

Psh, Miss Cleo's got the psychic communication already, as do most Vegas magicians. The Government has secretly been experimenting with bio augmentation since the 60's (just look to Lady Gaga for a recent failure).

Space travel, though, we're still way behind on. I mean, we couldn't even land on the moon without faking it, and the series of "malfunctioning" rovers on Mars is just more covering up our interplanetary inadequacy.

:p

[Lockark]

*cough* on topic *cough*

The Tau as a race were living in caves and had only just discovered fire the last half of M35...so they've got to handheld railgun tech inside 6000 years from being cavetau.

I think they win

Lets face it we've beaten half the imperiums technology decades ago....cept for the whole space travel, physcic communication, bio augmentation stuff...:P

You also forgot The Imperials have the technology to make much more resilient materials. Witch also means they have Far more advanced Personal Armour Technology(Power armour/Terminator Armour/Dreads), Tank Armour(AV14 lawl, Problem Tau?), and Fortifications.

The Imperals also have more advanced Plasma and Melta Technology.

Let's also not forget the Imperials and there astropaths that allow them to send messages much faster then the Tau can.

The Imperials also have power weapons and power fists. The Imperals also have more advanced/minatureized Personal Force Shield technology. Able to fit the whole device into a thin metal gorget.


There is all kinds of ancient war machines and devices the imperials have that the Tau can only wish they can get there hands on/knew how to make them. The difference between the Tau and Imperials in the Tau is advancing well the imperials are declining. The Imperials greatest weakness is there greatest strength.

[steelmage99]

Swing and a miss, Lockark. Swing and a miss.

[Fellend]

A discussion could be had whether the Imperium actually posses any technology at all considering they just copy what's there using machines from their predeccessors. They do not actually posses the knowledge of how most of their wargear works. The Tau on the other hand could propbably teaches their little fishlings how to build fusion reactors during high school.

[eldargal]

Eldar technology > all.:p

[Farseer Uthiliesh]

Eldar technology > all.:p

Spoken for truth.

[scadugenga]

Eldar technology > all.:p

Not until the new codex comes out... ;)

'til then, Eldar Tech > All only in the fluff, milady.

[Lockark]

Not until the new codex comes out... ;)

'til then, Eldar Tech > All only in the fluff, milady.

Nah. The Dark Eldar are so awesome there pulling the weight for the Eldar too.
XD

[jumai]

I fail to see how this has any practical application the way modern warfare is heading (ie by insurgent/terrorist proxies)


I dunno, ask the Iraqis. Apparently there's still some out of date militias using aircraft carriers and cruise missiles, and it turns out that while various insurgencies may be hard to engage with such weapons, whatever gets in the way of the attempt is kinda boned. "Stuff that helps us not get obliterated by international temper tantrums" is more or less the military's bag, right?

[Fellend]

I thought the entire Iraqie battle plan was "Shock and Awe", massive rail guns would awe me... well, assuming i'm not hit by it then it's probably just shocking. And sooner or later an alien race is going to invade us, and then we will need all the guns we can get

[Fizyx]

Every time I hear about railguns in technology seminars the talk is of long-range bombardment with kinetic energy penetrators. Something like the 120mm Sabot round fired from the M1A1, but fired by the railgun and lobbed at high altitudes from a distance of 120-130 nm. Hell, in my computational physics class in grad school our final project was to simulate a railgun projectile...

I don't see how they apply to "modern" warfare, but then again the Navy at the very least is going in a million different directions (LCS, DDX, etc.) Personally, I don't think the railgun will ever be a practical weapon, at least not in the way they want it to be. I could go on about innovation vs. technology, but I'll leave it there.

I think we are closer to Melta technology, anyways. The solid-state laser guys seriously impress me.

[Uncle Nutsy]

I don't see how they apply to "modern" warfare, but then again the Navy at the very least is going in a million different directions (LCS, DDX, etc.) Personally, I don't think the railgun will ever be a practical weapon, at least not in the way they want it to be. I could go on about innovation vs. technology, but I'll leave it there.

It allows the military in general to be more precise (surgical strikes) and to reduce collateral damage.

[Xas]

railguns might not improve ground warfare much (energy storage technology is lightyears away from beeing able to compare to chemical propelants of common bullets/missiles) but they might come in handy with air/space combat sooner than later.

reason is simple that it might be much easier to engineer defenses against laser weaponry on aircraft/missiles than against ultra high speed solid projectiles. I'm talking counter-meassures to nukes here.

finally the technology can have good use in landing-craft defense (both from terrestrial launched space landing craft like the atmosphere hoppers as well as extraterrestrial launched craft) as it is far easier to penetrate a heathshields with a solid projectile than with a laser.


they key feature has already been said: no dangerous chemicals/explosives are stored in any sort of ammonition storage and can be made to predetonate by combat damage.



on a totally different issue it is a question still open if we as a species would every have to worry about alien invasions. mankind is so hazardous that it has not yet prooven that it can establish an interplanetary colonization programe before killing itself off.

therefore allmost any alienr aces we might encounter will be more peave loving than we are by nature and so I think we will allways be a step agead in ideas to produce better and better weapons.

[DarkLink]

Right. Current technology makes railguns impractical. But then again, machine guns didn't seem very realistic back in the 1500s.

Railguns are just about the ultimate kinetic energy weapon in principle. Theoretically, they're extremely accurate, extremely long ranged and deliver massive kinetic energy on impact. If we can make one that fits on a battleship, that's a big advance. If we can get one that fits on a tank, awesome. If we can make a rifle sized one, even better.

The technology doesn't exist now, but if we don't start working on it then the technology never will.



Incidentally, the related technology of the mass driver has a lot of potential non-military uses as well, so it's not like this is a military only thing. In fact, if you look through history you'll find an amazing number of things that were invented purely due to a military interest, but then a civilian use for the technology was found. Like tissue paper:rolleyes:.

[Farseer Uthiliesh]

Right. Current technology makes railguns impractical. But then again, machine guns didn't seem very realistic back in the 1500s.

Railguns are just about the ultimate kinetic energy weapon in principle. Theoretically, they're extremely accurate, extremely long ranged and deliver massive kinetic energy on impact. If we can make one that fits on a battleship, that's a big advance. If we can get one that fits on a tank, awesome. If we can make a rifle sized one, even better.

The technology doesn't exist now, but if we don't start working on it then the technology never will.



Incidentally, the related technology of the mass driver has a lot of potential non-military uses as well, so it's not like this is a military only thing. In fact, if you look through history you'll find an amazing number of things that were invented purely due to a military interest, but then a civilian use for the technology was found. Like tissue paper:rolleyes:.

Even the sandwich ;)

Good post, by the way.