[Ultra-Tech] worries concerning ETC weapons

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Langy

That's not where ETC weapons get their extra energy from. They do it by making the propellant more efficient, not by adding more energy from a battery.

Mostly. Many designs do actually use electrical energy to heat the gases to counter the temperature and pressure drop as they expand. This *does* require a much bigger electrical energy source than a battery and is where the "electrothermal" part of the name probably came from. Of course this technology is being developed primarily for warship guns, not holdout pistols, so that's not as huge a problem, but still you need a big surge very quickly, so it tends to be done with explosive generators.