According to a WSJ article published alongside the video - the new weapon is meant to "transform military strategy" and "keep the U.S. ahead of advancing Russian and Chinese weaponry."
If staying ahead of Russia and China is the ultimate end goal of this "superweapon", then the U.S. might have already failed.
Earlier today the deputy chair of the Federation Council (equivalent of the US Senate) Committee on Defense and Security, Senator Franz Klintsevich commented on the WSJ release with the following remarks:
"The information in the newspaper was not a revelation to us. Similar developments are already underway in Russia."While Sen. Klintsevich doesn't believe in the prospect of a new weapon displacing the traditional ones "even in the medium term", if by some chance the United States does happen to make a breakthrough in this regard, the senator is confident that the situation will still be "under control".
Regardless of where Russia stands with its own railgun developments, at the very least it does not appear to be phased by America's most recent show of force. And if - as the senator claims, the Russians are already masterminding something similar or have other means to counteract this technology, then its declared purpose may well be obsolete.
Comment: Further reading: