China's navy is rumored to have sent its latest high-tech railgun to sea for tests. Photos of a Chinese navy amphibious assault ship equipped with a prototype electromagnetic railgun circulated the internet last month.
A railgun is a powerful weapon that uses magnetic force instead of explosive charge in launching its projectiles. The weapon is more advanced than conventional weapons in terms of range and destructive power.
The authenticity, date, and venue of the photo are not yet confirmed. However, the ships that contain the rumored weapon are said to match the test vessels of China.
The developments of railguns in various countries are at a slow pace for decades since it uses a lot of electrical power. It is one of the main reasons that prevents the weapon from the use in the front lines.
Warship developers started their focus on emphasizing electrical generation in their designs. The designs and the high-end utilities like generators and power systems might make the use of railguns possible in coming years. The latest developments transition the weapon from a laboratory experiment to a front-line weapon.
China's railgun was first seen in a photo in January 2018 equipped on the deck of a Chinese navy type 072 landing vessel Haiyang Shan. The 390-feet-long ship was reported at a facility in Wuhan on the Yangtze River. A large photo of a cannon which was said to be a railgun was visible on ships forward deck.
Chinese media confirmed in March 2008 that the cannon in the circulating photo was an experimental railgun. The 81.cn, PLA-run news, quoted Zhang Xiao, a navy engineer, as he describes the development of the direct-current electrical system that could power the railgun. He said that during the development of the weapon, it required 50,000 tests and they have endured hundreds of failures.
Global Times, a state-run news outlet, confirmed that the Chinese warships will soon be equipped with electromagnetic railguns that fire projectiles with incredible velocity. It also reported that the technology behind the weapon was based on "fully independent intellectual property" instead of copied designs from other nations.
The U.S. Navy also developed the same kind of technology with the same intent of using it on their future warships. In their research, they noted that the railguns can launch projectiles can reach further targets compared to the 13-nautical-mile range of their standard 5-inch naval gun.
