Chinese researchers test hypersonic bullets capable of hitting long-distance targets, the 5-mm steel bullets. The bullets were tested on pigs to see how they would affect a human body, another potential use of hypersonic projectile is explored.
Hypersonic Bullets Faster Than Speeding Train
Researchers claim that each bullet fired at each pig traveled at speeds of 11 times the speed of sound and left large crater wounds but did not penetrate the skin like a subsonic road, reported EurAsian Times.
The shot wasn't fatal to the pigs, but shockwaves ripped the body's internals from the extreme speed. It was published in the Acta Armamentarii, an official publication by the China Ordnance Society, on August 22, per SCMP.
The team leader for the tests in Chongqing was Wang Jianmin from the Department of Weapon Bioeffect Assessment. He continued, saying that if broken bones or internal bleeding had been noticed, the damage would have been immediately apparent, even hitting long-distance targets would be the same.
Autopsy results show the bullet entered at high speeds of 1,000 to 3,000 meters per second, but at 4,000 m/sec, it cratered the flesh not entered it.
Hypersonic Bullets Effects on Its Targets
Traditional bullets fired at three times the speed of sound will solidly penetrate flesh. But fast-moving projectiles will heat a metal bullet almost to the point of melting. At the point of impact, both bullet and human flesh turn into liquid and gas. Researchers added that the impact of these hypersonic bullets would be different because it will be based on fluid mechanics.
A bullet will heat up when it comes into contact with animal flesh, and when the steel bullet strikes the skin with all its force, it will dissolve and break from the intense heat. The head, chest, abdomen, and other body parts with more sophisticated structures would be the focus of additional animal studies, according to Jianmin and his colleagues.
Understanding the effects of hypersonic bullets is inaccurate, one argument favoring using actual subjects rather than just soap.
Using Super-Speed Projective To Take Out Hypersonic Missiles
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is not telling if they are creating a hypersonic firearm yet. The PLA has contributed money for various projects involving weapons that can fire small munitions at a higher velocity than Mach 5, per Asia Politik.
PLAN is researching for a working unit to shoot solid rounds faster than Mach 5+ to take out missiles, drones, and torpedoes. These weapons are electromagnets that fling any metal sharp or intentional shape up to Mach 7 as a last-ditch weapon if all fails.
Additionally, Chinese researchers are developing hypersonic missiles that could be fired from railguns and could hunt for targets.
China conducted the first live open-sea testing of a railgun mounted on a warship in 2018. Studying the effect of a hypersonic bullet hitting long distance and its effect is serious in China and later application it might have militarily.