China showed an electromagnetic gun. This is what the weapon of the future looks like
The electromagnetic cannon (so-called railgun) was officially presented by the Chinese military. The weapons of the future are impressive and terrifying at the same time.
The Chinese railgun is a weapon that has so far been found in futuristic computer games or seen in science fiction films. This time, however, we are dealing with real military technology, which calls into question whether we are still dealing with a balance in the balance of military capabilities of China and the United States.
Chinese electromagnetic cannon. Cheap and effective
According to the South China Morning Post, the electromagnetic cannon presented by the Chinese Navy is to combine high firepower with relatively low operating costs. In the case of a railgun, the ammunition is kinetic energy. One that can apparently get rid of enemy, in this case American, warships very quickly and effectively.
During the tests, the Chinese army fired as many as 120 projectiles from a kinetic cannon, which reached a maximum speed of 7,000 km/h and hit a target 200 km away. It is therefore not surprising that Beijing is talking about a real military breakthrough.
Forty times lower operating price
It turns out that the cost of one shot from a kinetic cannon can be reduced to up to 25,000 dollars, while the use of conventional missile weapons with the same destructive power will involve up to 40 times higher costs.
“This breakthrough defines the great change that will take place in the coming years: instead of chemical energy, we will use electromagnetic energy. The ability to conduct continuous fire using a magnetic cannon is a milestone in creating an effective next-generation weapon, and our tests confirm that we are already capable of this, said Lu Junyong, head of the research team at the National Electromagnetic Energy Laboratory in Beijing.
What about the US?
So far, it remains a mystery whether the United States military has the technology it could use to defend itself against China’s new military invention. It is known, however, that the Chinese navy is to be equipped with electromagnetic cannons within the next dozen or so years. In this way, Beijing wants to increase its military presence in the South China Sea.
