A Chinese electromagnetic coil gun capable of firing at 3,000 rounds per minute – a rate that obliterates traditional firearms and greatly surpasses US commercial models by orders of magnitude – has been captured on video.
The footage, released by state-owned arms manufacturer China South Industries Group (CSGC) on April 18, has raised eyebrows among military experts as the firing capacity greatly outstrips current weaponry and could redefine future combat.
While the CSGC remained tight-lipped about the technology involved, a peer-reviewed paper published on Monday by a team of military scientists offered a hint: the world’s first capacitor-free electromagnetic coil gun, powered directly by lithium batteries.
The breakthrough, detailed in China’s Journal of Gun Launch & Control, centres on eliminating the Achilles’ heel of electromagnetic weapons – capacitors.
Capacitors are devices that store electrical energy and until now coil guns have relied on that energy for rapid discharge, a process that creates lag times for recharging. This limitation had capped the firing rate of early Chinese prototypes and the US-made GR-1 “Anvil” to 100 rounds per minute.
