The Chinese navy’s rail gun has shocked the world. It was mounted on a ship as early as 2018 – the first ever on the planet – and was widely viewed as a coup for China’s future weapon technology.
But power has become its curse. When the current is too strong, metal liquefies. Shells are capped at 15kg (33lbs).
It is too light to sink a ship. Too weak for war. Now the army has stepped in. Their solution: cross-stacking two rail guns into one.
This will nearly double the force. As bore pressure jumps, shells can hit 30kg at Mach 7, according to the project team led by Professor Lyu Qingao, associate professor with the Army Engineering University of PLA in Shijiazhuang.
“While the navy’s electromagnetic rail gun has resolved power supply challenges, its firing power still falls far short of the targets,” wrote Lyu and his colleagues in an April paper published in the Journal of Army Engineering University of PLA.
“This has hampered the technological advancement and military application of electromagnetic rail guns.”
