The U.S. Navy could be on the verge of changing the way that America fights wars. How so? With what they’re calling a rail gun.

The rail gun — propelled by an electromagnetic pulse and striking its targets at seven times the speed of sound — introduces what could prove to be a smaller, cheaper, but more destructive weapon that can replace the large, expensive missiles currently stocked on Navy ships.

“Impressive” may not be a strong enough word to describe this thing…