Japan Shows Off Futuristic 'Railgun' at Defense Expo

Japan shows off futuristic 'railgun' at defense expo

As Japan's biggest defense exhibition kicked off this week, visitors got a close-up look at a model of its futuristic "railgun" that its makers hope will be able to shoot down hypersonic missiles. Instead of gunpowder, railgun technology uses electromagnetic energy to fire a projectile along a set of rails…

The cannon should, in theory, destroy a target only with its kinetic energy rather than with explosives.

The railgun: the futuristic weapon that could make missiles obsolete.

Last year, the Japanese navy became the first in the world to test a ship-mounted railgun.

Makuhari (Japan), 22 May 2025 (AFP) – Japan has presented a futuristic "electrical gun" model that its designers hope to be able to use to shoot hypersonic missiles at the largest Japanese Defence Fair this week. Instead of using gunpowder to fire an artillery shell, Japan has [...]