Comments by "Digital Nomad" (@digitalnomad9985) on "How Do Large Caliber Naval Guns Work?" video.

  1.  @ItJuM856  They are obsolete as ship to ship surface combatants due the the range of missiles. (supposedly, but what if everybody's antimissile defenses work great and you run out of missiles? Missiles are bulky and expensive and you can't carry as many. I suppose that is the reasoning behind the Kirov, or maybe the gun is just for shore bombardment.) But every major conflict after we mothballed them after WW2, the US brought one or two back into commission for shore bombardment, which they could do much faster and oodles cheaper than missiles bombarding targets up to 35 km distant (at the maximum rated elevation of 30 degrees, I suppose if you could trim the ship to heel over the other way you could get a bit more range, optimum elevation for range is 45 degrees) in support of amphibious operations, or other operations near the coast. Our last use of battleships was in Operation Desert Storm, firing Tomahawk missiles in the air war and blasting away at coastal defenses with the 16 inch guns as a diversion in the ground war. Ours have been permanently decommissioned now, and the Marines will miss them, because for that task, nothing in the modern inventory is better or more cost effective for sustained operational fire support. Rail guns will have even greater range than guns and the projectiles will be cheaper than missiles. If some of the projectiles could have terminal guidance, that would be deadly in a surface engagement. Projectiles having an ability to maneuver aerodynamically could also extend the range at the cost of kinetic power on target. (Due to the massive acceleration and electromagnetic flux at firing, it may be hard to make electronics and moving parts work on these projectiles.) I suppose if the procurement establishment has their heads screwed on straight, they could have cheaper projectile options than the max range tungsten darts as well as fragmentation options. Rail guns, if properly implemented, have the potential to meet or exceed the cost-effectiveness of big guns while increasing the range and versatility of surface fire, both against ships and against land targets. Whether that potential can or will be realized in practical terms remains to be seen.
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