WASHINGTON, April 11 — The United States Navy is developing a hypersonic railgun, expected to be the world’s fastest weapon.

The completed gun will be comparable in size to today’s Howitzer based cannons. It is believed that the US Navy will mount the new weapon aboard Zumwalt class stealth battleships that are currently in production.

The new gun will fire a projectile at a target that can be up to 400km away, and reach it in under 6 minutes. Since the projectile will use no explosives, and rely on sheer speed and kinetic force, it will be very precise in obliterating targets, leaving very little collateral damage in its wake. — Reuters

The soon to be commissioned United States Navy littoral combat ship USS Coronado is shown docked at Naval Station North Island in Coronado, California April 3, 2014. The US Navy is developing a hypersonic railgun, expected to be the world’s fastest weapon. — Reuters pic