US Navy has reportedly fired railgun rounds out of standard deck guns
A US Navy destroyer test-fired hypervelocity projectiles from its standard Mk 45 5-inch deck gun during the Rim of the Pacific exercises last year, USNI News reported Tuesday.
The high-speed rounds, designed for railguns, can be fired faster and farther than traditional artillery rounds from naval deck guns and land artillery pieces without modification.
The cost of each hypervelocity round is only a fraction of the cost of the missiles the US uses to intercept incoming threats.
Business Insider
Navy Quietly Fires 20 Hyper Velocity Projectiles Through Destroyer’s Deckgun
Last summer USS Dewey (DDG-105) fired 20 hyper velocity projectiles (HVP) from a standard Mk 45 5-inch deck gun in a quiet experiment that’s set to add new utility to the weapon found on almost every U.S. warship, officials familiar with the test have told USNI News.
USNI News
https://news.usni.org/2019/01/08/navy-quietly-fires-20-hyper-velocity-projectiles-destroyers-deckgun
China’s aims to arm warships with railguns that may not matter in war
Chinese state media recently revealed that China will “soon” arm warships with electromagnetic railguns, a much-hyped technology that’s of questionable use to a military.
This would certainly be a noteworthy technological feat for China, but it would be militarily insignificant, experts told Business Insider.
An operational railgun would likely bring very little to the table militarily, but it would advance the narrative that China is a formidable rising power with the ability to develop next-generation weaponry.
Business Insider