This Is Our Best View Yet of China’s Ship-Mounted Railgun Prototype - the Drive
Now some will get all upset at the idea China is ahead of us on this or that weapon system. Well, lets remember how twisted that gets in politics and some programs really are just money seeking warheads.
It’s easy to find spectacular test footage of the US railgun prototype working apparently quite well. But the Navy has demurred for now, and I suspect for good reason. The new Zumwalt class has ten times the electricity supply compared to it’s predecessor. And seems to have ten times as many issues.
Railguns like lasers and other whiz bang 21st century weapons need a lot of electricity. So much so we actually get to the old scifi trope where the big super starship ship goes dark when the main weapon fires.
Being at sea is like visiting a world of acid rain as far as ship parts go. Everything rusts, or embrittles, or erodes.
It may well be that size of economy and proximity to the China sea will allow China to assert sovereign power over what we see as international waters. But it won’t be some new weapon that makes or breaks that possibility. Lets not do another arms race because of what some say the other guy has.
We were among the first to report yesterday on images coming out of China showing the Haiyang Shan, a Type 072III-class landing ship equipped with what appeared to be an experimental electromagnetic railgun installed on its bow. Make sure to read our original post linked here for full background on this development, but now a new photo has emerged showing a highly detailed view of the massive deck gun.
More: This Is Our Best View Yet Of China’s Ship-Mounted Railgun Prototype - The Drive