Page 7 - Aruba Today

U.S. NEWS A7
Monday 15 February 2016

Navy considers electric Police: Highway crash sent

gun for a Zumwalt- 73 people to the hospital

class destroyer FREDERICKSBURG, Pennsyl-
vania (AP) — More than 70
DAVID SHARP than others.” people were treated fol- Vehicles pile up after a fatal crash near Fredericksburg, Pa., Sat-
Associated Press Railguns use electricity lowing a huge pileup on a urday, Feb. 13, 2016. The pileup left tractor-trailers, box trucks
BATH, Maine (AP) — De- instead of gunpowder to central Pennsylvania inter- and cars tangled together across several lanes of traffic and
velopment of a futuris- accelerate a projectile state highway that killed into the snow-covered median.
tic weapon depicted in at six or seven times the three people, authorities
video games and sci- speed of sound — creat- said Sunday. Associated Press
ence fiction is going well ing enough kinetic energy Trooper Justin Summa of
enough that a Navy ad- to destroy targets. the state police barracks in The major crash along one following the pileup, which
miral wants to skip an at- It’s advanced technology Lebanon County said Sat- stretch of I-78 in Bethel left vehicles tangled to-
sea prototype in favor of that holds the possibility urday’s crash on Interstate Township involved 64 ve- gether across three traffic
installing an operational of providing an effective 78 during a snow squall in- hicles, including a dozen lanes and into the snow-
unit aboard a destroyer weapon at pennies on volved 64 vehicles, commercial vehicles such covered median about 75
planned to go into service the dollars compared to including a dozen com- as tractor-trailers and box miles (120 kilometers) north-
in 2018. smart bombs and missiles. mercial vehicles such as trucks, west of Philadelphia.
The Navy has been test- There has been talk since tractor-trailers and box but there were also “nu- Police said more than 70
ing an electromagnetic the inception of the Zum- trucks. merous secondary crash- people were taken to a
railgun and could have walt program that the There were also “numerous es” behind that as traffic warming shelter operated
an operational unit massive destroyers would secondary crashes” be- backed up, Summa said. by the American Red Cross
ready to go on one of be a likely candidate for hind that as traffic backed A total of 73 people were at a firehouse in the area.
the new Zumwalt-class the weapon because of up, he said. taken by four medical he- The center closed Saturday
destroyers under con- its power plant. Kenneth J. Lesko, 50, of licopters and by ambu- night after stranded motor-
struction at Bath Iron The USS Johnson will be Bethpage, New York; Fran- lance for treatment at 11 ists were given an opportu-
Works in Maine. the third and final destroy- cisca V. Pear, 54, of Bridge- hospitals. nity to get rental vehicles or
Adm. Pete Fanta, the er in the Zumwalt class. water, At least one remained in hotels.
Navy’s director of surface The 600-foot (180-meter)- New Jersey; and Alfred critical condition Sunday, Among those caught in the
warfare, has floated the long warship uses marine Dean Kinnick, 57, of Lime- but Penn State Hershey pile up was the Penn State-
idea of foregoing the cur- turbines similar to those stone, Tennessee, were all Medical Center said two Lehigh Valley men’s bas-
rent plan to put a proto- that propel the Boeing pronounced dead at the others taken to the hospital ketball team.
type on another vessel 777 to help produce up scene of Saturday morn- with critical injuries had im- They were heading to a
this year and instead put to 78 megawatts of elec- ing’s crash on Interstate proved and most of the 13 game in New Kensington
it directly on the future tricity for use in propulsion, 78, state police in Lebanon people brought to the hos- when their chartered bus
USS Lyndon B. Johnson, weapons and sensors. County said Sunday. pital had been discharged. was hit by a tractor-trailer.
though no final decision That’s more than enough The crash shortly before The interstate highway re- The school reported no seri-
has been made. power for the railgun. 9:30 a.m. Saturday oc- opened Sunday morning ous injuries.q
“The Zumwalt-class is one If it’s placed on the war- curred in what drivers re-
of a number of options ship, the system could re- ported as whiteout condi-
being explored for the place one of the forward tions, with very low visibility
electromagnetic railgun,” turrets housing a 155mm and a lot of drifting snow,
said Lt. Cmdr. gun that fires rocket-pro- Summa said.
Hayley Sims, a Navy pelled projectiles. “People were saying they
spokeswoman. “Due to For now, however, the of- couldn’t see past the front
the size, weight and pow- ficial plan remains for the bumpers of their cars,”
er requirements, some railgun prototype to be Summa said Sunday.
platforms will be better tested aboard a joint high
suited for the technology speed vessel this year. q