The Aegis Combat System is an American naval weapon system fitted on most of the Navy’s ships. It’s produced and distributed by Lockheed Martin. This system uses advanced digital radar systems to track down and hit long-range threats. The U.S. Military has authorized the use of this technology to various other allied countries.
The name “Aegis” comes from Greek mythology and represents a protective shield, similar to the one used by Zeus. The Aegis Combat System locates aerial hostile units and helps track and destroy them before they cause harm. It was originally developed in the ‘60s, but with recent technological advances, it has become far more effective.
Electromagnetic Personnel Interdiction Control (EPIC)
One of the Navy’s most interesting prototypes is the Electromagnetic Personnel Interdiction Control. This weirdly-named weapon, uses electromagnetic pulses to make their personnel targets ill and throw up. A prototype was created to test the idea of being able to neutralize an enemy without causing severe harm, as is always the case with bullets and explosions.
Despite being a promising idea, the EPIC’s development has recently been halted. It’s highly unlikely that the Navy will continue the development of this gun, although we would be lying to say if we said that a future with this war doesn’t sound really cool
The M61 Vulcan
M61 Vulcans are one of the Navy’s deadliest close-contact weapons. These are often a U.S. helicopter’s first line of defense when being shot, and have proved themselves to be very effective in a large range of situations. More than 3,700 U.S. aircraft contain these, and we’ll explain why right away.
Vulcan turrets fire electrically primed 20mm rounds at rates of up to 6,000 rounds per minute. Their ability to cause both precise and general destruction has earned them the name “The Hand of Gun”. These are some of the Navy’s most effective offensive weapons and definitely live up to the name.
The Mark 60 CAPTOR
The United States chooses to only use one type of anti-submarine missile, the Mark 60 CAPTOR. This deep-sea missile holds a Mark 46 torpedo inside its aluminum shell. It weighs roughly 2,350 pounds and costs between $113,000 and $377,000. Once one of them is anchored to the ocean floor, it can usually wait there for months.
Once a Mark 60 CAPTOR missile is shot at its target, it fires the Mark 46 torpedo, which uses a sound propagation system to passively identify and differentiate between hostile and friendly units. These torpedoes are highly effective underwater weapons, and can destroy almost any ship or submarine on impact.
A Standard Missile
Standard Missile can easily sink ships, shoot down aircraft, and even destroy ballistic and cruise missiles in mid-air. Standard missiles come in a variety of models, with the most popular one being the RIM-66 Standard. An upgraded version, the RIM-67, features a much longer effective range than the regular one.
Standard missiles were first developed back in the early '60s with the purpose of replacing some of their less effective counterparts. The RIM-66 Standard missiles are the latest version of these ballistic weapons, and are used by most of the United States, and allied European countries.