VRF Gauss Gun noise?

[kaladorn]

I have heard a PIVAD air defense system fire. It sounds literally like a "Buzzzzzzzzzzzz". You don't get the staccatto of slower cycling small arms - it all blends together into one loud buzz. It really does sound a lot like a chainsaw given gas. The only sound afterwords on some gatling systems is the barrel spin-down and that isn't terribly audible.

I'm imagining that mach+ rounds (even small ones) will be making this kind of 'buzzzzzz' noise.

As for suppressive effects:

How hot are flechettes moving supra-mach? I'm guessing hot. So is every round like a tracer? If so, your suppressive power is pretty good right there.

But they won't be noiseless when you fire them (I can't see it...). They won't be noiseless when they richochet around the target area (remember, we don't *want* pinpoint accuracy for suppressive fire... some historical MGs have actually been too accurate to be good at suppressive fire!) and they'll make one godawful "hissssss" as they snap past or over your head.

Now of course, if you're buttoned down in BD or high tech cbt armour, you'll notice but not have the same visceral reaction.

In short, I think you'll see very hot, possibly flourescing, rounds hisssssing past or over your head. You'll hear them spanging and tinking and whacking off nearby foliage, hard and soft cover, etc. If you're half smart, you'll still be quite supressed.

 

[N.I.C.E. Labs]

In pictures I've seen of the MIRAMAR Gun tests, the Navy's rail gun had a huge muzzle flame, presumably from air friction. Given that evidence I suspect that gauss weapons, especially larger weapons like mass drivers and VRF Gauss Guns would probably look and sound very similar to their conventional slug-throwing counterparts.

 

[Uncle Bob]

A rail gun drives the projectile in front of a megawatt arc jumping from rail-to-rail, plus the vaporised metal from the rail (early railguns had a serious erosion problem). So between the ionized air and vaporized copper there would be quite a muzzle flair. Not true of coil guns.

Before WWII the Indian Army used to practice immediate action drills when the officer would clap his hands, then thump his chest. This approximated the crack of a supersonic bullet followed by the distant *thump* of the muzzle blast.

A unit under fire from a VRF gauss will know it. Without visual clues or any muzzle blast the shock waves from the projectiles will create a deafening roar.

 

[archhealer]

Originally posted by daibaka:
Hmmm, I'm thinking that all these silent or near silent weapons make suppressive fire tactics rather interesting. After all, how do you suppress enemy infantry if they don't even realise they are being shot at? I suppose the increased lethality of weapons with advanced sighting and targetting systems would serve to announce the shooter's presence once the bodies start to fall, but there's a lot to be said for the shock value of some old fashioned "shot and thunder"!

Well, it still has one advantage; I don't know about other systems, but in T20 suppressive fire can strike a number of targets in the area covered equal to 1/2 the rate of fire for the weapon. With a VRF, you could mow down a hell of a lot of people that way, just spraying the entire formation with needles. Icky. I imagine a red fog of blood droplets hanging in the air for a few seconds after the bodies hit the ground.