The U.S. Navy has developed the world’s most powerful railgun, also known as supergun, breaking the world record.
A shot fired by the electromagnetic railgun at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, generated 33 megajoules of force out of the barrel, a world record for muzzle energy and more than three times the previous record last December, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
A single megajoule is roughly equivalent to a one-ton car travelling at 100mph. The impact of the projectile hitting a target would be 33 times that force.
This supergun does not need gunpowder, but requires electrical energy, which will eventually allow the Navy to attack from much more farther and safer distance.
This railgun’s final goal is to make cannons of Navy’s ship that reach 322 kilometers in six minutes, creating 64 megajoules.
However, the weapon is still in the process of being made, it will take at least 5 more years, maybe ten years. Once it is made, it will at least double the power of U.S. navy, and it will be the start of new futuristic weapon which needs a lot more researches.