Top 6 Hottest New Weapons

Competition spurs innovation and there is nothing more competitive than countries battling in the trenches of war. With billions upon billions in defense budget to spend, research into developing the best and most efficient weapons is on the forefront of investment.

Weapons come in all shapes and sizes with different purposes. We have collected a list of some of the most interesting weapons either out there now or in development. The future is now.

6. Laser Weapon System (LaWS)

Previously only thought to be in futuristic sci-fi movies, lasers are becoming a large part of the artillery. The Laser Weapon System is a directed-energy weapon developed by the United States Navy. LaWS can track targets and zap them with a beam strong enough to burn through steel. LaWS will protect ships from unmanned aerial vehicles and is expected to be deployed late 2013 or early 2014.

5. X-51A Waverider

Weapons traveling through the sky at the speed of sound could be just one decade away. The Air Force’s hypersonic vehicle, the X-51A Waverider, completed its final test flight in early 2013. This unmanned scramjet can reach speeds of over 3,900 miles per hour and will be used in the High Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW), a Mach 5+ missile planned to enter service in the mid-2020s.

4. Electromagnetic Railgun

The railgun uses electromagnetic energy instead of explosive chemical propellant and could launch a projectile farther and faster than any previous gun. The railgun has had several successful tests over the past couple years and is currently still in development to become operational. If the railgun technology reaches the stage where it can be deployed as a weapon, it will be able to fire a projectile more than 370km with a muzzle velocity of 7.5 times the speed of sound and an impact velocity of five times the speed of sound. It will destroy a target by its kinetic energy, rather than by using conventional explosives.

3. XM-25 Rifle

Known as "The Punisher", this weapon fires 25 mm grenades that are set to explode in mid-air at or near the target. What makes this weapon even more impressive is its ability to find its target. A laser rangefinder in the weapon is used to determine the distance to the target. The user can manually adjust the detonating distance by up to 10 feet shorter or longer; the XM25 automatically transmits the detonating distance to the grenade in the firing chamber. The grenade tracks the distance it has traveled by the number of spiral rotations after it is fired, then detonates at the proper distance to produce an air burst effect, enabling the user to find targets that are taking cover.

2. Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power(ATBIP) A.K.A Father of all Bombs

This weapon makes the list for one reason, sheer power; It is a Russian-made air-delivered/land-activated thermobaric weapon. In describing the bomb's destructive power, Russian deputy chief of the general staff Alexander Rukshin was quoted as saying, "all that is alive merely evaporates." This would make it the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) weapon in the world.

1. TrackingPoint Rifle

It takes years to train military snipers to fire with deadly accuracy at long range, but now you can shoot like one in a matter of minutes. A startup gun company in Texas called TrackingPoint has just released a smart rifle that has a hefty price tag but enables inexperienced shooters to feel like crack marksmen. The gun, called the TrackingPoint rifle, comes equipped with a ton of technology which means it decides when to shoot and can easily hit targets that are 1,000 yards away. It uses lasers and computers so you can film the shooting and download it for playback on YouTube or Facebook later.

Comment below with any that we any additional weapons that are not on the list