China beats US in cracking naval supergun technology
CHINA: China has become the first country to deploy an electromagnetic ‘‘supergun’’, which is capable of firing a projectile at up to seven times the speed of sound, on a warship.
Images of the long barrel of a railgun on a Chinese amphibious warship suggest that the country has leapt ahead of the United States in developing this new form of weapons technology.
Both the US and China have been researching railguns, which use electromagnetic force rather than an explosive charge to push projectiles down the barrel to ranges of more than 160 kilometres. As well as firing faster and farther than conventional naval guns, the rounds are much cheaper than other forms of antiship weapons systems.
In the US prototype, railguns have managed to fire a projectile travelling at 8000kmh. The rounds cost about NZ$34,000, compared with NZ$1.64 million for a Harpoon guided missile, which has a range of only 123km.
The railgun will provide China, which has been expanding its military power in the South China Sea, with a powerful tool to deter opponents from the region.
the newspaper of the Communist Party, suggested that trials of the weapon had been planned. It reported that the barrel had been fitted to Haiyangshan, a Type 072 II landing ship.
The US Navy first demonstrated the technology in 2006, and there were plans for trials of the system on one of its ships, but they have yet to take place.
‘‘What makes railguns so deadly is the sheer velocity of their projectiles, even at extreme ranges beyond the horizon,’’ Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said. The projectile would arrive at its target in less than five seconds, he added.
A similar launch system has been installed on the US aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford, but not as a weapon. Electromagnetic force is used instead of a steam-powered catapult to launch its fighter aircraft.
There have been problems with this new system, and some of the crew on board the carrier complained to US President Donald Trump when he paid a visit. Trump said last year that he thought the navy should revert to steam, but a successful aircraft launch was achieved in August last year using electromagnetic power.