What you need to know: Railguns, which use electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles, have long been pursued by military powers but remain elusive due to significant technical hurdles. Although the US invested about $500 million in its Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) program, it ended funding in 2022 due to power and durability issues.

-China, however, continues its efforts; its recent test, though unsuccessful, used artificial intelligence to improve performance, showing Beijing’s commitment to gun development.

-While railguns offer a theoretical advantage by firing projectiles without explosives, the power requirements are immense, limiting their feasibility for practical military deployment.

Why the Railgun Remains within the Reach of the US and China

Since the rail gun concept was first introduced during World War I, many nations have invested heavily in acquiring this linear motor driven device. Also called the rail gun, this one weapon uses electromagnetic force to launch high speed projectiles. Over the years, emerging technologies and other advancements have led to real-world efforts to develop such a powerful platform.

However, many of these efforts they failed due to strength and durability issues that even the most cutting-edge engineers couldn’t get around. The US appears to be abandoning its railgun efforts entirely. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is no closer to achieving tracking of this weapon, however, the plan is to continue to prioritize further development in this area.

China’s ongoing railgun efforts

In May, a team from Beijing University of Naval Engineering used artificial intelligence technology in their latest gun rail efforts. According to Chinese state media outlets, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) tested an electromagnetic gun by firing a smart bomb at 15 km at a speed above Mach-5.0. Although the test launch was not deemed successful, it demonstrates that Beijing continues to pursue rail weapons technology.

The US has too invest strong in acquiring railgun capabilities in the past, even if related efforts have essentially been shelved more recently. Over the past decade, analysts estimate that the Navy has allocated more than $500 million to its Electromagnetic Railgun (EMRG) program. In 2022, however, a US Congressional Research Service report noted that the U.S. has ended funding for its gun project, but that the Navy still hopes the weapon could be potentially valuable for line-based missile defense.

How Railgun Tech Works

Since the general objective of such program would be the ability to fire projectiles at hypersonic speeds, nor should they contain explosives to cause damage to targets.

Nearly two decades ago, the Pentagon tasked BAE Systems and General Atomics with developing a functional rail gun to help direct onboard weapons from gunpowder-based propulsion to electric propulsion.

As detailed by Popular Mechanics“Unlike traditional naval guns that ignite gunpowder or other powder charges to send a projectile down a tube, railguns do not rely on explosions. This meant that the rail gun could throw a projectile faster and further without storing dangerous and bulky powder charges, and the guns were not subjected to the extremely high pressures involved in a powder explosion. The power would be generated by a ship’s integrated power system, which is designed to generate, store and release huge amounts of electricity.”

While in theory the rail gun concept could offer a huge asset to the navy’s armaments capabilities, several technical problems prevented it from being realized. The general problem associated with this weapon is the power itself. Gaining enough power to actually launch such a projectile in a controlled and reliable manner is simply not a realistic endeavor for a warship.

About the author: Maya Carlin, defense expert

Maya Carlinnational security writer with The National Interest, is an analyst at the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has written for many publications, including The National Interest, the Jerusalem Post, and the Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.

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