![star wars hypervelocity gun star wars hypervelocity gun](https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/13/12466/AllianceShot2515.jpg)
Incredibly, a metal projectile scarcely larger than a household nail had been driven into a sandwich of thick steel plates to a depth of several inches. Hastily donning gas masks, technicians swarmed into the smoke-filled rail-gun building to look for equipment damage and check the target. The whine of high-power electrical equipment rose to a scream, a supervisor nodded to a controller, and the rail gun fired, sending a shudder through the factory compound, slapping clothing against the legs of passers-by and leaving ears ringing. As the countdown progressed, pictures and computer data flowed across monitor screens, and workers readied the lasers, X-ray flash cameras and diagnostic sensors used for assessing each shot. One recent morning, flashing red lights and insistent loudspeakers warned nonessential personnel away while technicians sealed off the test building and retreated to the safety of a control shack. The rail gun, built by Maxwell Laboratories Inc., and named Checmate (an acronym for Compact High Energy Capacitor Module Advanced Technology Experiment), is about the size of a large merry-go-round and stands in a hangarlike building. The source of the noise is one of the world's first rail guns, a new breed of electromagnetic artillery potentially capable of piercing the most heavily armored tanks, of picking off intercontinental missiles and battle satellites, and even of hurling projectiles to distant planets.
![star wars hypervelocity gun star wars hypervelocity gun](https://a57.foxnews.com/a57.foxnews.com/media2.foxnews.com/2015/02/05/640/360/931/524/020515_fox_cannon_640.jpg)
But the peaceful mien of the neighborhood is disturbed several times a week by the blast of a stunningly powerful cannon that sends flocks of startled birds into the air and sets off burglar alarms in parked cars over a wide area.
![star wars hypervelocity gun star wars hypervelocity gun](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b8/5f/a9/b85fa90943ccf674c23fdcb1ee0a9814.jpg)
The street is only a few minutes' drive from Sea World and other tourist magnets, and to the casual visitor it seems as far removed as an American suburb could be from any hint of war or weaponry. THE LANDSCAPED INDUSTRIAL park that flanks San Diego's Balboa Avenue hints of well-appointed board rooms, robotic assembly lines and healthy workers bronzed by weekends on the nearby beaches.