Citing CCTV, the state-run Global Times on Thursday reported the underlying railgun technology — which utilizes electrical power rather than explosives to launch projectiles — was based on “fully independent intellectual property,” rather than copied from other countries.

Unconfirmed sightings of a Chinese landing ship apparently equipped with a test railgun in an undisclosed location have circulated around the internet this week.

Military expert Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, told CNN that if the reports were accurate, the weapon was likely to be “a year or two away from being operational.”