16 inch guns have a range of 25 miles. Not good anymore.
“16 inch guns have a range of 25 miles. Not good anymore.”
It could still be used for a pulverizing shore bombardment. Not too much left.
I would assume, at some point in time, the military will come up with a defense against hypersonic missiles, which are still very low speed compared to lasers.
A 16” AP projectile can penetrate 30 feet of solid concrete. The projectile travels three times the speed of sound. As for blast radius of a 16” HC: “The High Capacity (HC) shell can create a crater 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep (15 x 6 m).
Use of the ship depends on who the enemy is and their capabilities. We do have ships with anti-missile capabilities, which could provide a bubble of protection for close in operations. Also, we have amphibious ships that can land troops by sea and air. They have their vulnerabilities as well.
Wonder why no RAP was developed. (Rocket assisted projectile).