Could be old, the video that is.
Although we have basically had confirmation that they have been testing out a railgun on a retired 072 or something like that before as well (some years ago even).
PLA Navy news, pics and videos
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Although we have basically had confirmation that they have been testing out a railgun on a retired 072 or something like that before as well (some years ago even).
The ship has the same hull-number as the one used in previous tests although the video is allegedly more recent.
It could be possible that the ship has been laid up and the rail-gun left installed as testing finished; or they could possibly be resuming tests.
I c.
Sounds very plausible and sensible, the railgun itself has most likely undergone some changes/adjustments over the years as well.
The video would have been fairly recent i.e. shot sometime this year considering the new uniforms they wore in it.
Speaking of naval-based railgun, I would like to refer to this article by Popular Mechanics about the US Army canceling or halting the railgun R&D program just a barely 2 months ago, which allegedly can engage targets up to around 1000 miles (1609 kilometers) away:
And this article regarding China's experimental railgun progress by SCMP:
From what I could gather online, the experimental railgun onboard the Type 072-III test ship managed to hit a target 250 kilometers away in a test somewhere off China's coast. The test was conducted in Febraury 2018.
If naval-based railgun technology can be refined and enhanced enough such that power generation and storage alongside wear and tear becomes less of an issue and more of an inconvenience, could railguns in the future with even longer range than the experimental railgun on the Type 072-III test ship be placed onboard PLAN destroyers, in particular the Type 052D, Type 055 and future destroyer classes?
I believe that the railgun could potentially complement, and even replace certain ASuMs and LAMs according to their respective ranges, such as the YJ-18, if the railgun can have its range upgraded to around 500-600 kilometers. This would be very beneficial in freeing up more valuable VLS spaces, which could then go towards fielding AShMs with even longer ranges (such as YJ-21) and more AAMs plus ABMs?
If the naval-based railgun can shoot upwards of more than 1609 kilometers away, it could even complement or replace the YJ-21, while the freed-up VLS spaces could go for even longer-range ASuMs (such as the currently under-development naval-variant of DF-17), apart from the same, more AAMs and ABMs as mentioned above.
Of course, we could have more railguns installed per ship, and (jokingly) half-return to the dreadnaught era where big guns once ruled the oceans before planes snatched that role away in WW2.
So my question is - Could such platforms ever go onto a warship? If so, around when? And how effective and viable would such platform be?
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Also @Patchwork_Chimera, I would like to hear your thoughts on this too, considering that the US Navy would be retrofitting/fitting at least one of the three Zumwalt-class DDGs with an electromagnetic railgun in the future, thanks to their large onboard power generation capabilities.
Understood.
Edit: Dang it, I forgot to upload these photos as attachment in my previous postings.
Got these from a Weibo post dated June 28.
Post (roughly) translated as below:
