Reports in state-run media from early January said
on its warships.
In theory, railguns will fire metal shells using an electrical rather than an explosive charge -- a potentially revolutionary development in weapons technology that would render gunpowder obsolete. With a range over 100 miles, the projectile would travel at up to nine times the speed of sound (6,850 mph). It would also use kinetic rather than explosive energy to destroy its target.
With no explosive residue, the electromagnetic railgun is expected to be more accurate and easier to maintain than conventional artillery.
Photos of what was said to be a railgun mounted on a PLA Navy landing ship circulated around the internet early this month.
quoted a Chinese naval expert, Li Jie, as saying the photos mean China's railgun may be in the final stages of testing. The weapon could be destined for use on China's brand-new Type 55 destroyers, among the most sophisticated on the planet, when operational, the report said.
Verdict: Plausible. The US Navy, too, has been working to perfect a railgun, and had the jump on China in development, said Schuster, the military analyst at Hawaii Pacific University. But China is catching up fast, he says, and may beat the US to actual deployment. Both could have working railguns at sea in less than a decade, he says.
