China railgun PICTURED as Beijing beats US Navy to superweapon
Alarming photos published online suggest the Chinese military is testing the Star Wars-style weapon, which uses electromagnetic force to fire projectiles at incredibly high speeds and across huge distances.
Tests of prototypes in the US show the projectiles, fired along charged rails, could hit speeds of Mach 7 - seven times the speed of sound - and have a range of 160km.
Beijing is thought to be very keen on the weapon because it offers the range of a missile but the speed of a cannon.
And new pictures show a ship at the Wuchang shipyard equipped with what appears to be a working railgun.