US Navy exercise antagonises China (Image: GETTY )
The show of strength attracted the interest of the Chinese Navy who sent a surveillance vessel to keep tabs on military trials. A retired Chinese general believes the Beijing military’s presence was in retaliation to US surveillance of Chinese warships, as tensions between the two superpowers continue to grow. The hypervelocity projectiles were fired as part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 international exercise off the waters of Honolulu in 2018, which is the world’s largest maritime exercise.
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The Pentagon is funding the new projectiles ahead of the electromagnetic railgun, a weapon which multiple countries are racing to develop.
A railgun is potentially more destructive and has a greater range than a conventional weapon due to its ability to use magnetic force rather than a conventional charge.
Such is the desperation for the new weapon that Congress authorised a $2.5billion fund for research and development on electromagnetic guns and advanced warships.
A Chinese navy vessel was spotted with a demonstrator
