布利澤軌道炮

????通用原子公司（General Atomics）最出名的產(chǎn)品當屬它的“獵食者”和“收割者”無人機，不過它的一項海軍武器也同樣充滿未來主義色彩，這就是它的布利澤軌道炮項目。

????軌道炮是電磁炮的一種，它通過小心地引導電流通過兩段平行導軌所產(chǎn)生的磁場對彈丸進行加速，它的彈丸可以是任何東西，可以是一架飛機也可以是一枚炮彈，美國海軍研究室已經(jīng)對軌道炮研究了很長時間，希望未來能夠用它來代替?zhèn)鹘y(tǒng)艦炮，因為軌道炮的彈道更平穩(wěn)、射程更遠，而且殺傷力更強。在美國海軍的測試中，軌道炮的彈藥速度已經(jīng)超過了每秒鐘1.5英里，與軌道炮未來的最終潛力相比，這還僅僅是一個開始。

????不過軌道炮現(xiàn)在還沒有完全做好服役的準備，一方面是由于它電力消耗巨大，一方也是由于軌道炮技術(shù)尚不完全成熟。通用原子公司此次帶了一件軌道炮的原型模型來參加展會，只是為了展示這項技術(shù)的研究程度和武器設(shè)計。不過通用原子公司并不是唯一一家花大力氣研發(fā)軌道炮技術(shù)的公司。BAE系統(tǒng)公司也為美國海軍研發(fā)了軌道炮原型產(chǎn)品，而且波音公司的鬼怪工程部（Phantom Works）也啟動了用于軌道炮的精確打擊彈藥的研發(fā)。

Blitzer Rail Gun

????General Atomics is best known for its Predator and Reaper drones, but where Naval warfare technology is concerned it has something equally futuristic in the works: its Blitzer Railgun program.

????Railguns are electromagnetic projectile launchers that accelerate their payloads -- which could be anything from an aircraft to an artillery round -- by carefully manipulating an electromagnetic current running the length of two parallel rails. The Office of Naval Research has long researched railguns as potential future replacements for its naval surface guns, as they launch projectiles on flatter trajectories to much greater distances with far more devastating force. In U.S. Navy tests, railguns have launched projectiles at speeds in excess of 1.5 miles per second, and that's really just the beginning of what railguns could eventually do.

????While railguns aren't quite ready for service -- aside from being too energy intensive, the technology isn't completely reliable just yet -- General Atomics brought a prototype to Sea-Air-Space simply to show off how far they've come with both launcher and projectile design. But General Atomics isn't the only defense company heavily into the railgun race. BAE Systems has also developed railgun prototypes for the Navy, and Boeing's Phantom Works has developed precision sabot projectiles for railguns to launch.