Japanese navy unveils railgun used to down China’s missiles

 Japan’s navy has unveiled a ship-mounted electromagnetic railgun intended to down incoming Chinese hypersonic missiles.

The large futuristic-looking weapon system was pictured last week undergoing advanced stages of testing on the flight deck of the experimental JS Asuka warship.

Tokyo has been intensely focused on fielding its next-generation weapons as threats increase in the Indo-Pacific from China, Russia and North Korea.

The railgun does not require explosives or propellant but relies on electromagnetic energy to launch projectiles at supersonic speeds, providing a cost-effective and quick response to potential fast-moving missile threats.

It fires at higher velocities than regular weaponry, with its ammunition travelling at 2,500 metres per second (m/s), compared to traditional tank guns, which fire shells at speeds of around 1,750 m/s.

Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) said that Vice Admiral Omachi Katsushi, the commander of the Self Defense Fleet, had visited the Asuka “to observe the latest status of the railgun, which is under development at the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency”.

Officials said the weapon would bolster naval missile defences, having the potential to engage air, sea and land targets with higher levels of accuracy than conventional munitions.

Research into the new weapon system started in 2016 and it carried out its first onboard firing test in October 2023.

The railgun “supports the development of Japan’s future combat readiness and national defence posture” JMSDF said last week.

Japan needed to strengthen its country’s defence capabilities after it estimated it had only 60 per cent of the interceptor missiles needed for national defence in 2022.

The US navy suspended its own railgun programme in 2021 after a decade in development that cost more than $500million over significant power and overheating challenges.

But China has been developing its own electromagnetic gun for years under a shroud of secrecy. In 2018, photographs showed Chinese warship Haiyang Shan, a landing craft, equipped with a prototype electromagnetic railgun.

India, Russia and Turkey have also tested prototypes.

The UK, despite research, is not building its own railgun. Instead, it is in the advanced stages of developing a direct energy weapon known as DragonFire.

Tipped as a revolutionary weapon, DragonFire uses lasers to down drones and missiles with an intense light beam, not projectiles fired by electromagnetic forces, and costs £10 a shot.

Ukraine has developed its own laser weapon which is understood to have been modelled on a UK prototype after designs were shared with Kyiv in 2024.