Chinese scientists claim to have developed and tested a hypersonic projectile that is similar to the “Dream Shell” abandoned by the US Navy.
The smart shell can be fired by electromagnetic guns or coil guns at speeds reaching Mach 7, according to a report by South China Morning Post.
It can also reportedly hit targets with great accuracy, thanks to its ability to receive signals from a satellite navigation system, allowing it to continuously adjust its flight path mid-air.
The developers estimated that the shell can strike a target within 15 meters (49 feet), more than enough to damage large targets such as warships and ports.
But even with such high accuracy, the outlet argued that the shell may struggle to hit small moving targets like tanks.
Not Original
Despite its promising features, the concept of developing a smart shell that uses satellite navigation is not an original idea.
In 2012, the US Navy embarked on a similar initiative to produce the so-called “Dream Shell,” which can travel at a speed of Mach 5 and be guided by a global positioning system.
The service had planned to develop the shell within five years, but it has yet to issue an update except that it had abandoned its electromagnetic railgun program, which would be used to propel the Dream Shell.
Although China may have gotten ahead of its near-peer adversary, the Chinese team that worked on the smart shell said they were not assisted by any previous development attempts.
“We had no guidance, not even a cursory introduction to guided missile navigation systems, especially the satellite navigation component,” lead scientist Feng Junhong from the Naval University of Engineering stated.
