A high speed gas valve apparatus including a reservoir for holding a gas having a charge port for filling the reservoir with the gas and an outlet for releasing the gas from the reservoir, a rod slidingly housed in the valve apparatus, the rod including a sealing means operatively arranged to engage with the outlet of the valve chamber for sealing the reservoir when the valve is in a closed position, a pneumatic actuator, wherein a piston of the pneumatic actuator is coupled to the rod, an electro-magnetic actuator coupled to the rod, and wherein the gas is released from the reservoir via the outlet when the apparatus is in an open position, and the valve transitions from the closed position to the open position by activating the pneumatic and electro-magnetic actuators to move the rod away from the outlet.