Actually, the rail guns being developed are beng designed to have a range between 150-200 nautilcal miles. These are hyper velocity projectile, which are very aerodynamically designed. The rest is just math.
The initial lasers are intedned to be point defense and will probably reside on the new carriers.
The rail gun will be ahuge game changer in Naval technology in terms of reach and even precision because seeker warheads can be designed in.
Ultimately particle beam weaponry will be developed. But the rail guns and lasers are being tested now in live fire exercises. Probably another 6-8 years at least before either has a working model ready for full up tests and initial production and deployment...though the laser has been tested at sea already. Just needs a higher power version which is being developed to work with the massive energy available from the new US reactors on the Ford Class carriers.
