Would a naval gun be effective in the vacum of space?

Question

Would an 8 inch naval gun (like on a cruiser) with a solid projectile be an effective weapon against spacecraft if mounted on a spaceship? Would it even fire? I know there's no air in space but arent the shell casings airtight anyways? And if it did fire wouldnt the shell be deadly for millions of miles due to the lack of gravity and air resistance? How do you think it would stand up to an electro-magnetic gun?

Would'nt missles make more effective space weapons?

Answer 1

The explosive in a shell contains a fuel and an oxidant, which react to produce the bang. Therefore the lack of air in space is irrelevant. Yes, the shell would retain its velocity indefinitely with no air to slow it or gravity to pull it to the ground, however the further it travels, the more precisely it must be aimed to have any chance of hitting its target. Electromagnetic (rail) guns could produce much higher velocities, but the same problem arises with guidance. For this reason missiles would probably be a more useful weapon in space, as they can correct their course and home in on their targets.

Answer 2

It would be very effective. It would fire just fine. Better than in the atmosphere in fact. It would have basically unlimited range because there is no air in space to slow it down. There is gravity to change its path, but that can be calculated and accounted for. The Space Shuttle, after the first 10 minutes when the main engines run out of fuel, is nothing more than a bullet. It hurtles without power or really any control almost all the time except for a few minutes of each week long mission when they fire the Orbital Maneuvering System engines.

A guided missile might be better, since it could follow a target that was trying to dodge it, but the gun would work just fine.

Answer 3

Assuming the construction and design of the shells and guns have been planned with combat in a vacuum in mind, there shouldn't be a problem with the function of the weapon.

But every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so launching a weapon such as this in space would move your ship in the opposite direction. This is true of naval ships, fighter air craft, even ordinary guns, but they have water, the air, their engines on the back or human muscles that counter this, but in the vacuum of space there's nothing to stop your spaceship from drifting away from the target with with shot, just as there's nothing to stop each shell you fie from continuing on indefinitely.

Because of the difference in mass between your ship and the shells fired this won't initially appear to be a huge problem (except for particularly high-velocity rounds), but fire enough rounds and the effects will become quite apparent. You are going to require booster jets on the opposite sides of the ship to the weapons in order to offset the recoil.

Answer 4

If it were fired in space it would be very deadly for anything that it hit. If it missed it would travel through space not slowing for millions of miles unless it was acted on by other forces. Oh yes the gravity would have things in orbit . There is gravity that holds the earth in orbit around the Galaxy.

Answer 5

If the object you were firing at was a none moving target, yes it would be effective. But as a moving target it would not. The powder in the shell has it's own oxidizers so it does not need oxygen. Since we do not have an electro-magnetic gun it is hard to say.

Answer 6

Of course it would fire. Guns fire projectiles by directing force out the back and generating an equal and opposite reaction. It doesn't require air to push against.

And the projectile would not slow down until it came in contact with something else.

Answer 7

It can fire. Can hit objects. Can't be controlled once fired, unless you have mini pressure stabilizers...But those objects you hit won't explode due to lack of oxygen. Are you talking about space to space combat or space to earth?

Answer 8

I don't think the fire control is made to track something moveing at many thousands of mph with no ballistic flight