The U.S. Navy Naval Research Department unveiled astonishing new developments in naval warfare that allow for significantly improved accuracy, firepower and cost-effectiveness.

Science fiction writers and fans alike should be excited about the newest weapons in the U.S. Navy. These new technologies in weapons systems and vehicle automation are safer, more reliable and more accurate than traditional means.

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"It is really becoming real," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder about the Navy's new science fiction weaponry in an interview with TV series Power Players.

One of the innovations is an "autonomous" boat that can navigate and drive itself while controlled by a cube-shaped on-board computer module the size of two fists held together. The module allows the vessel to be completely controlled by the computer, with no human at the helm.

The new tech can accurately synchronize the movements of multiple vessels, and can array them in a range of formations and tactical positions.

"We have now turned this patrol craft into a highly functional, highly capable, unmanned weapons system that could be used to either protect a high-value unit, they could be used to engage a threat, they could be used to encircle a threat, and if need be, they could be used to destroy a threat," said Adm. Klunder.

In a test scenario, the Navy had these modules control 13 unmanned vessels after a human being designated a target and commanded them to circle that target, a maneuver the vessels executed perfectly.

Adm. Klunder points out the potential of this technology in helping save lives at sea. He said if the navy had that technology 14 years ago during the USS Cole bombing, it could have saved the vessel and the lives of those in it.

Weapons systems are another interesting innovation, with a ship-mounted laser designed to take down attacking aerial and naval weapons. Dubbed the Laser Weapons System, or LaWS, the weapon is capable of extreme accuracy and generates high power at a low cost.

Adm. Klunder holds up a thick slab of steel with a hole drilled into the middle by a laser beam. He emphasizes that it takes less than a dollar for the LaWS to do that much damage, "with the precision of a dime."

Adm.  Klunder pointed out their new electromagnetic railgun that launches a high-velocity projectile using kinetic energy converted from electricity and magnetism. The rail gun has a range of 110 nautical miles and propels a projectile at seven times the speed of sound. 

Not only is the rail gun they more lethal, it's also safer because the system completely does away with gunpowder.

TagsRailgun, Navy, Sci-Fi, Weapons Systems, Laser Weapons, Automated Vessels