The Chinese naval forces decided to surprise all their "colleagues" on the world stage by introducing a new type of ship, which neither the United States nor even Russia currently has. We are talking about a tank landing ship, on board of which the latest, until recently experimental, weapon was installed.
Today, there is already every reason to assert that it is China that will make a real breakthrough in the field of naval weapons, putting into service the ship 072 III Haiyang Sha. What is so remarkable about this vessel that has been increasingly talked about over the past few months? First of all, the point is in its armament. An electromagnetic cannon is installed on board the ship - a type of weapon that, until recently, was almost the province of science fiction writers. China decided to become the first country to actually put the railgun into service. In Russia and the United States, similar developments also took place, but things did not go beyond prototypes.
According to official data, work on the Chinese railgun is ahead of schedule and is almost complete. US intelligence is convinced that by 2025, the Chinese navy will use electromagnetic weapons extensively enough to begin to pose a fundamentally new level of threat at sea. The railgun can shoot at a distance of up to 200 km.
An electromagnetic gun is installed in the bow of the ship. In the latest tests, the speed of the railgun projectile reached 2500 meters per second, and the muzzle energy - 32 MJ. Based on all of the above, US intelligence concludes that Chinese engineers have managed to solve several fundamental problems with electromagnetic weapons. First of all, we are talking about the loading speed and barrel wear. Most likely, all Chinese destroyers 956-EM built at Russian shipyards will receive such guns.
Finally, it should be noted that in Russia railguns are still used only in laboratory conditions. The United States of America decided to abandon the railgun project, the initiative was phased out by 2019.
Want to see even more interesting ships? How about taking a look at The 5 largest seagoing vessels that make the Titanic look like a dinghy unworthy of attention.