A team of Russian scientists have successfully tested their first railgun, which is fast enough to rip through any type of armour.
The weapon relies on electromagnetic forces rather than explosives or propellant.
According to experts at the Institute of High Temperatures' branch in Shatura, in Moscow, the railgun can fire shells at three kilometers per second.
During the latest test, a 15 gram plastic cylinder fired by the railgun went through an aluminum plate several centimeters thick.
Shatura Institute's director Alexei Shurpov told Zvezda TV: 'The railgun is a big boost to our study of high energy physics as we are now ready to build apparatuses working at speeds exceeding 4.5 kilometers a second.'
As well as Russia, the US is also working on its own version of the railgun.
The futuristic weapon has long been a darling of the Navy's research wing, along with other game-changing technologies such as laser beams that can track a boat in choppy water and blast holes in its hull.
Ultimately, scientists expect the railgun rounds to travel at speeds up to Mach 7.5, which at 5,700 mph (9,100 kph) is more than seven times the speed of sound, and cover a distance of about 100 miles (160 kilometers.)
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