Speaking of shotguns. Always wondered why anti aircraft big “shotgun” shells were not deployed for the big 8”,!0”, 15” and 18” guns on cruisers and battleships to deter attacks from torpedo planes and dive bombers during WW II. Such shotgun shells may still be useful as a last defense against missile and drone attack.
I have thought that as well...it is the history of war. For everything that is developed, some countermeasure is developed.
Except for nuclear weapons, which are so terrible they are almost never an option to be actively used.
Apparently the Yamato had a shell for that very reason but was still ineffective.
Computer controlled radar, precision laser guidance systems, state of the art rocket propulsion systems and bad add weaponry are literally a century ahead of anti-aircraft defenses.
Do you think that we put men on the moon just collect some cool rocks?
After the Korean war my dad told me of his tank unit looking over a ridge into a valley at approaching NK and Chinese troops. A lot of them. Every one was told to hunker down because the battle ships were gonna shell the valley, and they did. He didnt know if they were bee hive rounds but the kill rate was very high and a day later they rode thru the valley on the way to the Yalu river.
We had bee hives on the M-60 and M-1 tanks (105 and 120 mm rounds) but a 16” one, no, 3 - 16” beehive rounds, each as big as a volkswagon? Thats anti-personnel at its finest!