See VIDEO: The US Navy's new rail gun that fires at seven times the speed of sound

The rail gun is designed to take out incoming missiles or possibly aircraft.

17:26 08 April 2014

The US Navy has unveiled a rail gun that is fast enough that ‘nothing can possibly survive it’. The gun, which fires at seven times the speed of sound, is designed to take out incoming missiles and possibly aircraft. 

 

A video released showed that it smashed a dummy warhead with the sheer force of the impact creating a large explosion. 

 

Chief of Naval Research, Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, from the Office of Naval Research, said: “An electromagnetic rail gun is a gun that uses just electricity — no gun powder — and, oh, by the way, can shoot a projectile like this, well over 100 miles (160km) at Mach 7.” 

 

He added: “So think about that. A slug that big — a slug that big going Mach 7 puts a hole through six half-inch steel plates.” 

 

“There’s not a thing in the sky that’s going to survive against that.”

 

Klunder explained that the rail gun can prevent other countries from even thinking about going against the United States. 

 

“I think that’s a pretty good deterrent message to our adversaries out there that want to threaten our nation,” he said. “I think they’re going to think long and hard about do I even want to engage the United States of America with the threat knowing that we’ve got a rail gun system now that will take anything out of the sky that they’re going to send at us.”