alternatehistory.com

While warships still retain their gun armament, anything larger than a 5" gun is now rare to nonexistent. They are mostly vestigial, useful perhaps for destroying a pirate ship or firing warning shots, but not too useful for bombardment or fighting other ships. In contrast, the guns retained on combat aircraft are a practical and key part of their arsenal. Some aircraft are even intended to use guns as a significant or primary means of attack, such as counterinsurgency aircraft armed with .50 BMG guns for attacking ground targets and of course the A-10 and Su-25 tank busters.

Is there a way in which heavy guns (6" and larger) could have found common naval use, especially on new build warships? 6" guns have recently been tested by several navies, and 8" guns were tested by the United States Navy as recently as the 1970s, but they haven't seen widespread adoption.
Top