According to Chinese government television CCTV, the new weapon was designed, among others, for law enforcement services, which may use it, for example, to control crowds during riots or other similar operations. The rifle, which creates a magnetic field to fire ammunition without recoil, bang or smoke, reportedly has a range of several dozen meters and can fire 1,000 to 2,000 rounds per minute.
China boasted about a working prototype of this type of futuristic equipment several months ago and, if the local media is to be believed, they finally managed to develop a production version of such an arsenal. As far as we know, it is also the first coil-fired rifle in the world.
Electromagnetic weapons are no longer an attribute of science fiction films
Admiral Saito during a visit to the Asuka ship, where the Japanese railgun is being testedX/@JMSDF_PAO
Chinese weapons, on the other hand, are interesting because we are talking about a handy arsenal that is apparently already ready for mass production. Of course, we also need to be skeptical here, especially since we will probably never see objective tests of the Chinese “coil gun”. Therefore, it is difficult to say clearly whether we are actually dealing with an electromagnetic weapon that is effective and practical enough to be used in real conditions.
Why is it so difficult to build a handheld railgun/coilgun?
Chinese electromagnetic weaponsChinese state television CCTV
Building portable electromagnetic weapons is currently a struggle against the laws of physics and the limitations of material technology. This includes: to provide sufficient energy so that the bullet fired from such a rifle has adequate penetration power.
This type of weapon currently has a very short range and, as seen in the example of the Chinese announcement, its capabilities are limited to penetrating a wooden panel from a short distance.
