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[That sounds pretty useless for anything other than fixed facilities. How much lethality does that round have to a platoon or company of soldiers, for example, or a group of insurgents holed up in a building? What is its final ballistics trajectory; I.E. is it going to still have a large horizontal component that might cause it to pass through the targeted building or can we give it a highly vertical trajectory so that it isn't a massive PR disaster?
The steepest the round came in at during test for max range was 45 degrees. I don't see why the fusing would be a problem (inside a building). We already have fuses that do that. The explosive delivered is extra. When a projectile arrives at Mack 3 it is carrying a lot of energy as it is. I don't have a weight on the warhead but it's 2 feet long and 6 inches in diameter "hyper explosive" not the standard high yield Composition D in most 16" rounds.
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12 minutes.... too long. Can't be used in fluid situations. That's why aircraft are tasked to loiter overhead.
You know aircraft do not loiter very long. Historically from Vietnam to today, there is too much area for aircraft to be on station all the time. They are only around for widows. Even when they are around, it frequently takes 30 minutes to get on station, so 12 minutes is way favorable, and that's on the longest possible range! Most of the operations the battleship will be engaged in will be within 120nm of the coast, and there are great munitions for that mission. The battleship is there 24 hours a day for a long time, and everything inside of their 120nm arch is vulnerable to 16” artillery. Yes, shadows are a problem, but people don’t always stay in there, and if they do for long, you position the ship to drop the rounds in on the far side of the hill. That is basic gunnery techniques.
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They also provide better deterrent due to the noise and presence they have; if you could set up a rolling barrage from a close ship that kept a constant boom-boom then yes, you can keep their heads down, but a 12 minute lag in control just does not provide for good support.
Once the aircraft drop its ordnance, they're done, so it does not matter if they make a lot of nose as ask to be shot down.
Like I said, these are all debunked arguments that have been addressed. The battleship is there as long as it has ammo. NSFS has always trumped TACAIR. Some people refuse to believe it, but every time there has been NSFS in range of one's position, it has been absolutely preferred.
All these new rounds, new UAVs, and VLS tubes is make the battleship even more effective and even more applicable to the current world situation.
Lebanon
Syria
North Korea
Somalia
are the countries off the top of my head that have high priority in the world of terrorism that are well within 16" range, especially the 120nm rounds. Don't forget 80% of all third world countries are within 16" range, and 90% of population and developed area is within 5-20 miles of the shore.
That's another compelling reason why battleships are perfect for the littoral operations concerning the War on Terror, or any such "over seas contingency" stuff.
Of course there are ranges beyond that of the battleship's guns! The carriers do not need to be swapped for battleships, they compliment each other in their capabilities. Battleships are the cheap way of delivering ordnance within their range, and on top of that, they are highly effective. Outside the gun’s range, send aircraft so aircraft are not so stretched.
Just like in the '80s, the battleships would not be in carrier groups. They are not escorts. They are the center of their own battle groups (strike groups these days) and they would operate on their own and would be available to sprint to amphib groups if a surprise forced entry or departure was needed.
In 2006 when we were pulling people out of Lebanon, TACAIR was requested but denied, because the Syrian SAM cpability on 4 ocassions from people I have talked to. At least 4 times they had no TACAIR because the risk was too great. Naval gunnery.