Editing Mass driver (section)

==Mass drivers as weapons==

Small to moderate size high-acceleration electromagnetic projectile launchers are currently undergoing active research by the US Navy<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onr.navy.mil/Media-Center/Fact-Sheets/Electromagnetic-Railgun.aspx|title=U.S. Navy|access-date=2013-06-11|archive-date=2017-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108033843/https://www.onr.navy.mil/Media-Center/Fact-Sheets/Electromagnetic-Railgun.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> for use as ground-based or ship-based weapons (most often [[railgun]]s but [[coilgun]]s in some cases). On larger scale than weapons currently near deployment but sometimes suggested in long-range future projections, a sufficiently high velocity [[linear motor]], a mass driver, could in theory be used as intercontinental artillery (or, if built on the [[Moon]] or in orbit, used to [[Space weapon#Orbital bombardment|attack a location on Earth's surface]]).<ref>[http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15669700 Applications of coilgun electromagnetic propulsion technology]. Retrieved May 9, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk2/1990/9003/900307.PDF Affordable Spacecraft: Design and Launch Alternatives, Chapter 5, Page 36]. Retrieved May 9, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.dresmara.ro/resources/carti/sdcasqdr.pdf QDR 2001: Strategy-Driven Choices for America's Security, Chapter 11, Global Reach/Global Power School] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323185409/http://www.dresmara.ro/resources/carti/sdcasqdr.pdf |date=2012-03-23 }}. Retrieved May 9, 2011.</ref> As the mass driver would be located further up the gravity well than the theoretical targets, it would enjoy a significant energy imbalance in terms of counter-attack.