US Navy Cancels Development of High-Tech Railgun Weapon
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projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound.
The Navy spent more than 10 years developing the weapon, called an electromagnetic railgun. The
cannon-like railgun uses electricity instead of chemical substances to fire projectiles.
A report released earlier this year by the Congressional Research Service stated that the Navy had been developing the railgun as a firing weapon to support U.S. Marines operations. The report said the development also centered on possible use of the railgun as a missile defense system.
The move to cancel railgun development comes as the U.S. Department of Defense turns its attention to the development of hypersonic missiles, The Associated Press reports.