The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) has announced its first successful test-firings of a ship-mounted electromagnetic (EM) railgun against a target vessel at sea.
On September 10, ATLA released the statement with four photos of the ship-board railgun firing trials via its official X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts.
According to ATLA, the railgun, mounted on the JMSDF’s test ship Asuka, successfully carried out long-range firings and the shooting at a target ship during the trials. The tests of the gun were conducted with the cooperation of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
The photos show the moment of the target ship being aimed at, as well as that of the railgun firing, using the Asuka. The fire control system is also visible next to the railgun. ATLA said details of the tests will be reported at its “ATLA Technological Symposium 2025” to be held on November 11-12 in Tokyo.
Previously, ATLA also announced on October 17, 2023, that it has conducted the world’s first railgun firing test at sea on the Asuka. The test firing used an early version of the railgun.
A half-scale model of the railgun was exhibited for the first time at DSEI Japan 2025, an international defense equipment trade fair held in Chiba Prefecture, adjoining Tokyo, from May 21 to 23 this year.
A half-scale model of the Japanese railgun exhibited for the first time at DSEI Japan 2025. (Photo credit: Kosuke Takahashi)
Railguns use electrical energy to launch hypervelocity projectiles instead of conventional gunpowder. In previous trials conducted by ATLA, a projectile fired from a 6-meter-long, 40-millimeter-caliber barrel reached a hypersonic speed of 2,297 meters per second—nearly Mach 7—surpassing the roughly 1,750 meters per second achieved by a tank gun, the fastest conventional artillery system. Railguns can do rapid-fire and fire at lower cost compared to conventional interceptor missiles, making them a promising next-generation defense system against hypersonic weapons exceeding Mach 5 developed by China, North Korea, and Russia.
One major challenge, however, is their enormous power requirement. A high-capacity power supply is essential, and miniaturization remains a hurdle for deployment on ships and other platforms.
Tokyo is increasingly focus on the development of advanced military technologies such as railgun-, high-power microwave- and laser-based weapon systems to help counter the growing missile threat posed by neighboring countries.
Such technologies will most likely become cutting-edge weapons as a “game changer” in the field of missile defense, enabling Tokyo to shoot down multiple missiles and drones simultaneously while drastically lowering the cost per intercept attempt compared with current technologies.
AloJapan.com