[Axenolith]

Build the Montana (oh, right, we’re out of money...) but replace 2-3 of the gun mounts with rail guns and their generating units in a similar turret system.. Leave one powder burner mounts. Lay out the secondary systems with laser and gatling AA/Anti missile units. Maybe work in STOL aircraft on it. Trade weight with interior composites and utilize the savings to slather the exterior in Chobham and reactive armors, make it so it can survive being pounded on by whatever can get past it’s 200 mile wall of death...

[Billthedrill]

Yeah, the rail gun is an interesting idea. Current versions take a heck of a lot of electric power and are long enough to run the length of the ship, but that might be something we could either improve or design around.

Anti-ship missiles, though, would prove a challenge to the best-designed armor. One I remember reading about, the "Sizzler" (Soviet 3M-54 Klub) is a sea-skimmer that has a 1000-lb warhead and a terminal attack profile of straight down at Mach 2.9. That's going to be a handful for any AAW suite.

[wally_bert]

GI Joe sank the Montana once. I couldn’t resist the cartoon reference. I could only find this piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqJXrDcncXE