The return to favor of the naval artillery

Since the early 90s, and the advent of precision guided missiles, naval artillery had gradually lost its predominance in the design of combat ships. The number of coins had already been reduced in previous years to their bare minimum, it was then the turn of the power of the coins to decrease. While 5-inch (127 mm) pieces were the reference standard in the 80s, we saw the appearance of smaller calibers, such as 3-inch (76 mm), and even 2-inch (57 mm), on major surface combat units. 

In France, the famous 100 mm DCN100 lathe gave way to 76 mm parts on the FDA Horizon, then on the FREMM, and on the next FTI. The Gowind 2500 Corvettes, although weighing 2400 tonnes, only carry a 57 mm cannon, where the 69 tonne A1200s carried 100 mm cannons. The appearance of new technologies, such as extended-range shells or electric cannons, is likely to bring naval artillery back into favor in the design of surface ships.

The first class to foreshadow this fact was the Zumwalt class of heavy destroyers. Equipped with two 2-inch (6 mm) Advanced Gun System cannons, the Zumwalts were initially to be able to carry up to 155 shells at extended range, capable of reaching 900 nautical miles (83 mm). But the exorbitant price of the projectiles, between $150 and $800.000 million, condemned the artillery of these buildings, and today there is talk of dismantling them to increase the number of vertical silos.

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