A viral claim circulating across social media platforms asserts that China has built a cannon capable of firing projectiles at seven times the speed of sound and that this new weapon “bends the laws of physics.” These videos accompanied by captions suggesting revolutionary or impossible physical behavior. However, our investigation found that the clip is AI-generated, and the claim that the technology “defies physics” is misleading.
Social Media Posts
Viral posts feature footage of a weapon accompanied by text claiming China has achieved Mach-7 projectile speeds by “pushing the limits of physics.”
Fact Check
Video Analysis
The screenshots from the viral clip reveal several telltale signs that the footage is not genuine.
In the first frame, the cannon’s interior looks completely solid and flat, lacking any of the depth or internal mechanical components you would expect to see inside an actual weapon barrel.
In the second frame, captured during the supposed firing moment, that same solid interior suddenly becomes see-through, the background landscape is now visible through what was previously an opaque surface. This abrupt shift from solid to transparent is a common glitch in AI-generated videos, not something that occurs in real footage.
Additionally, the X account “AI or Not,” which specializes in technical detection of AI-generated media, analyzed the clip and concluded that it is AI-generated.
Railguns and Mach-7 Velocities Are Not New or Physically Impossible
Electromagnetic railguns, devices that accelerate a metal projectile using high electric currents and Lorentz forces, have been researched by multiple militaries for decades, including the United States, China, and Japan.
Open-source reporting in The War Zone noted as early as 2018 that U.S. intelligence believed China could deploy ship-mounted railguns by 2025, with claimed muzzle velocities above Mach 7, which is high but aligns with hypersonic speed regimes and known engineering challenges, not with any “law-breaking” physics (Source).
Japan’s Ministry of Defense has also reported testing railgun prototypes targeting similar velocity ranges, further demonstrating that Mach-7 launch speeds are within the theoretical and engineering envelope of electromagnetic launchers. (Source)
The Technology Doesn’t “Bend the Laws of Physics”
The phrase commonly used in viral posts, “bends the laws of physics”, is marketing rhetoric rather than a scientific description.
Railguns function through Lorentz forces created by extremely high electric currents traveling along conductive rails. The projectile is accelerated by standard, well-understood electromagnetic interactions. There is nothing in the underlying physics that challenges or violates established scientific principles. The true engineering hurdles for railguns include power supply requirements (multi-megajoule discharges), rail and barrel erosion from extreme currents, thermal management, and size and weight constraints.
These challenges are among the reasons why railguns remain in the experimental stage and have not yet been deployed as operational weapons by any military.
(Source: How Stuff Works, SPS Naval Forces, VPRC)
Credible Reporting About China’s Launchers
Asia Times, covering Chinese and Japanese programs, has published claims that Chinese researchers aim for Mach-7 performance in experimental “X-railgun” designs, though such performance remains unverified.
The Defense Post and other defense outlets have noted Chinese research into hypersonic projectiles, but none of these reports describe anything that violates known physics.
Mainstream coverage from outlets such as ABC Australia reported on China’s railgun-equipped test ship as early as 2019.
No Official Chinese Military Statement Confirms a Mach-7 Cannon
There are no official statements from the PLA, the Ministry of National Defense (MND), or Chinese state media confirming any new cannon or railgun prototype matching the viral claims.
Coverage about the so-called “X-railgun” design, featuring dual-armature concepts aimed at improving power efficiency, comes from secondary outlets referencing academic proposals from PLA Army Engineering University researchers, not from PLA operational announcements. South China Morning Post and Yahoo News have described these as research concepts, not confirmed weapons trials (Source).
Conclusion
The viral video claiming to show a Chinese cannon that “bends the laws of physics” and fires projectiles at Mach 7 is misleading. Analysis of the footage reveals clear signs of artificial generation, including impossible visual inconsistencies where solid surfaces become transparent.
While electromagnetic railgun technology capable of hypersonic velocities is being researched by multiple countries, including China, the United States, and Japan, such weapons operate within well-understood physical principles and face significant engineering challenges that have prevented operational deployment.
Title:Viral Video Claiming to Show China’s Mach-7 Cannon Is AI-Generated
Fact Check By: PranpreeyaResult: Misleading
