The US Navy believes it has made a 'revolutionary approach to naval warfare' after demonstrating a powerful electromagnetic railgun.

Claims of the reported military milestone came after it was revealed that the railgun can destroy targets at 5600 mph.

"The gun is designed to launch these projectiles extremely far, somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 nautical miles, and their impact velocity is extremely high, somewhere in the vicinity of Mach 5," said US Navy spokesman Jim Boyle on Thursday in Dahlgren, Virginia.

"So it is an extremely fast moving, long range system," he added.

The weapon is slated to replace standard weaponry aboard warships and targets projectiles by using electricity instead of gunpowder, reducing safety risks to ships.

The futuristic naval gun will allow vessels to hit targets at greater distances and can reportedly be used to destroy incoming ballistic missiles.

Compared to a standard 5-inch naval gun battery which can fire shells with a range of 20 miles, an electromagnetic railgun can fire a projectile with a range of 230 miles in only seven minutes.

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