Meet VERA, the Variable Energy Research Accelerator, a transonic impact gun used by the US Navy’s ordnance development lab.
She’s built to launch live or inert missile and bomb components at a velocity just below the speed of sound, and functions basically the same as a potato gun on steroids.
The goal of this system is to reduce the muzzle velocity to speeds below that of traditional weapons platforms enabling testers to accelerate loads more smoothly for research purposes.
VERA features a 40 foot barrel with a 19 inch bore that can fire projectiles weighing up to 200 lbs with. Now that’s a big potato.