Less than lethal*
chucking solid objects at people is NEVER "non-lethal"
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2026
39 points (100.0% liked)
technology
24320 readers
187 users here now
On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.
Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020
- Ways to run Microsoft/Adobe and more on Linux
- The Ultimate FOSS Guide For Android
- Great libre software on Windows
- Hey you, the lib still using Chrome. Read this post!
Rules:
- 1. Obviously abide by the sitewide code of conduct. Bigotry will be met with an immediate ban
- 2. This community is about technology. Offtopic is permitted as long as it is kept in the comment sections
- 3. Although this is not /c/libre, FOSS related posting is tolerated, and even welcome in the case of effort posts
- 4. We believe technology should be liberating. As such, avoid promoting proprietary and/or bourgeois technology
- 5. Explanatory posts to correct the potential mistakes a comrade made in a post of their own are allowed, as long as they remain respectful
- 6. No crypto (Bitcoin, NFT, etc.) speculation, unless it is purely informative and not too cringe
- 7. Absolutely no tech bro shit. If you have a good opinion of Silicon Valley billionaires please manifest yourself so we can ban you.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Its power levels can also be altered, meaning that on lower settings there is less chance it will kill someone and instead disable them.
lmao yeah the words 'less chance' and 'disable' are doing a lot of work in the article
We've set our phasers from "kill" to "maim"
I can build my synthetik breacher build in real life just in time for the ai wars.
Tho they will probably wont be ai wars but more like wars on tech oligarchs. :[
if it was possible to, one could go back to my earliest posts when this site opened, wishcasting Chinese fusion power systems and coilguns, distributed to the global south and other revolutions
it was just nerdy sci-fi brain but i am happy that these prophesies continue to bear fruit 
"No, it's fine, I just didn't expect the Metal Gears to be Chinese so soon"
Proof that the US Navy railgun program failed due to incompetence rather than physical limitations
Those are two entirely different things. Railguns are a sort of "this could scale to an absurdly high level if you can pump enough current through it, but at those levels it oxidizes its rails rendering them useless after a few shots" thing (and the big artillery pieces that would theoretically enable are kind of dead anyways, since missiles do their job much, much better), while coilguns are just a projectile firing version of the EM catapults that some carriers and roller coasters use as launch systems. Making a good coilgun is comparatively well understood, and it just hasn't been weaponized because energy storage and all the hardware for it has generally been heavier than conventional ammo and a firearm that's able to handle the pressure of a given shot.
Here I'm assuming they've just optimized the firing sequence to minimize the waste and are using high end modern batteries to get something with the size and weight of a typical infantry rifle but the performance of a machine pistol, for the explicit purpose of reducing its volume as much as possible. So it's kind of comparable in role to something like the Soviet's AS Val/VSS Vintorez rifles with their integrated suppressors and subsonic cartridges.
Fair points, but give it time. I half expect the Chinese to build a working naval railgun just to dab on us.
I'd expect infantry scale railguns instead tbh. A naval railgun has to somehow be better and more logistically efficient than a missile rack and its ammunition and the current trend is for those to get cheaper and more effective. There'd need to be some kind of breakthrough in anti-missile systems that makes "just send more cheap missiles at a target to overwhelm the defenses/exhaust their interceptors" no longer viable, like a laser CIWS that actually works in practice, in order for "how do we make big artillery pieces work better?" to make a comeback.
At the small scale, it's possible the issues of railguns ruining their barrels could be solved, but it still needs a good answer to "why are you not just using conventional propellant?" and now "why are you not just using an anti-infantry/anti-vehicle drone system instead?" Since railguns are more efficient than coilguns, it's feasible it could end up working as an integrally silenced weapon (and stealth aside, reducing volume is good especially indoors because it reduces hearing damage for everyone nearby) although coilguns would probably win out on reliability.
They do have this
China has also been developing much larger electromagnetic weapons. In 2023, the PLA Naval University of Engineering reportedly tested the world’s most powerful coil gun that could fire a 124kg (273lbs) projectile at speeds of 700 km/h (435mph).
But like you said that is a different tech than a rail gun.
They fell for the most classic of blunders
Buying USAan
Okay but it can definitely be dialed up TO lethal right? I haven't seen many of these that looked as or more effective than a slingshot.
Full text of the SCMP article
China has miniaturised the technology used to make electromagnetic cannons to develop a handheld coil gun, according to state media.
The weapon was designed for stealth, non-lethal operations and law enforcement, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday, adding that it could fire between 1,000 and 2,000 projectiles a minute and penetrate wooden boards from dozens of metres away.
Its power levels can also be altered, meaning that on lower settings there is less chance it will kill someone and instead disable them.
The lightweight electromagnetic launcher has a barrel just 30cm (12 inches) long and can be easily held in one hand.
It is also fitted with a laser pointer to improve accuracy, according to its developer, state-owned China South Industries Group Corporation.
The weapon, also known as a Gauss gun, employs electromagnetic coils to fire metal projectiles at high speeds. Unlike conventional firearms, the electromagnetic weapon produces no muzzle flash or smoke, makes very little noise and does not discard shell casings – all of which make it ideal for stealth operations.
Saturday’s report from CCTV featured a model that had been upgraded from a test version developed last year.
The new weapon has a slightly longer barrel and can fire bigger and heavier projectiles. Although the firing speed was slower, there was a considerable increase in both the projectiles’ kinetic energy and destructive power, the report said.
It also has an electronic display that shows battery life, ammunition count and firing modes, while the shooter can adjust the gun’s electric current to control its output power and vary projectile speed based on the distance from the target and on-the-spot conditions.
“By spreading impact force to a larger area, it can effectively subdue targets while reducing the risk of fatality,” military commentator Zhang Xuefeng told CCTV.
The detachable magazine is positioned behind the centrally located grip, enabling the electromagnetic coils to span the entire length of the chassis to maximise the projectile’s acceleration distance, while maintaining a compact frame, according to the report.
Although the portable coil gun is currently intended for specialised non-lethal scenarios, mainly due to the limitations in battery power output, Zhang suggested the weapon could play a more significant role in future warfare, potentially supplementing or replacing traditional firearms in certain combat environments, as battery technology continues to improve.
China has also been developing much larger electromagnetic weapons. In 2023, the PLA Naval University of Engineering reportedly tested the world’s most powerful coil gun that could fire a 124kg (273lbs) projectile at speeds of 700 km/h (435mph).
A rail gun, another type of electromagnetic weapon that uses a pair of parallel rails to accelerate projectiles, is also under development. A prototype was reportedly seen on a People’s Liberation Army naval vessel for testing as early as 2018.
I need it
Hopefully some nerds figure out what makes this one chooch gooder so we can all partake.
I have long dreamed of taking a coilgun technical on my own little rampage.
I knew I should buy one of those Kei trucks
Perfect Technical
Yea my homie plans to get one lmao. I haven't told her we're riding to battle in it.
Gotta make sure she's Ride or Die first
Can't be springing that on peeps
Oh, indeed.
oh wow the "robot wolves" article below this is also intense.