Once, battles at sea were won by ships armed with more powerful artillery. The peak of the development of artillery ships was the battleships of the Second World War. At the same time, the naval battles of the 1940s showed that the time of artillery monsters is running out. Battleships gave way first to aircraft carriers, and then to ships with offensive missile weapons. Today, even on the largest warships, it is difficult to find artillery systems with a caliber of more than 127 or 130 mm, but will this state of affairs continue in the coming years?
The decline of the main artillery
During World War II, the Germans used battleships with 380 mm guns, the Americans armed most ships of this class with 406 mm artillery systems, but the Japanese went farthest in this race. It was in the Land of the Rising Sun that the two largest battleships in history were created - the Yamato-class ships. These were the largest and most powerful battleships on the planet with a displacement of 74 thousand tons, armed with nine 460-mm guns. They could not realize the potential of their artillery. By 1943, the Americans had finally achieved significant air superiority in the Pacific, which led to the almost complete cessation of dueling by large artillery ships.
The battleship "Musashi", which is a sister ship "Yamato", died in the first serious sea voyage. As part of the battle in Leyte Gulf from 23 October to 26 October 1944, the Japanese fleet suffered a crushing defeat in a number of separate battles, losing, among other things, three battleships, one of which was the newest battleship Musashi. The Americans, who had an overwhelming quantitative and qualitative advantage in aviation (1,500 aircraft against 200 Japanese), achieved a crushing victory. And the Japanese admirals finally realized that the fleet was not able to carry out operations without air cover. After this battle, the imperial fleet no longer planned major operations at sea. The pride of the Japanese fleet, the battleship Musashi, sank after numerous attacks by American aircraft that continued throughout the day on October 24, 1944. In total, the battleship was attacked by 259 aircraft, of which 18 were shot down. American pilots achieved 11-19 torpedo hits and up to 10-17 bombs hit the battleship, after which the ship sank. Along with the battleship, almost 1000 people of his team died and the ship's commander, Rear Admiral Inoguchi, who preferred to die along with the battleship.
A similar fate befell Yamato. The battleship was sunk by American aircraft on April 7, 1945. American carrier-based aircraft carried out massive attacks on the battleship, 227 aircraft participated in the raids. American pilots achieved 10 torpedo hits and 13 aerial bomb hits, after which the battleship was out of order. And at 14:23 local time, due to the displacement of 460-mm shells as a result of a roll, an explosion occurred in the bow cellar of the main artillery, after which the battleship sank to the bottom, becoming a grave for 3,063 crew members. The Americans paid for this victory with the loss of 10 aircraft and 12 pilots. The sinking of the battleship Yamato was the final nail in the coffin of the artillery surface ships. The battleship, which was the pride of the Japanese fleet, on the creation of which huge monetary, industrial and human resources were spent, died with almost the entire crew, unable to avenge the enemy for his death.
After the end of World War II, artillery of the main caliber was practically not used in hostilities. It would be suicide to use artillery ships in battles with an equal in strength or at least comparable enemy. The exceptions were situations when the enemy was clearly inferior in its military-technical potential and could not oppose anything in response. This is how the Americans turned to their battleships armed with 406-mm artillery during local conflicts. First, during the Korean War, when battleships of the "Iowa" type were urgently returned to service for 18 months (21, 4 thousand shells of the main caliber were used up), then during the Vietnam War, in which the battleship "New Jersey" took part, which released 6, 2 thousand shells of the main caliber. The last military conflict involving American battleships was the first war in the Persian Gulf. The last time 406-mm artillery volleys of the battleship "Missouri" (type "Iowa") sounded during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The main caliber of the modern fleet
The overwhelming majority of modern large surface warships are most often armed with one 127-mm artillery unit (the navies of most Western countries) or 130-mm, if we are talking about the Russian navy. For example, the main American artillery mount was the 127-mm Mk 45, a universal artillery mount that has been installed on ships of the American fleet from 1971 to the present day. During this time, the installation has been repeatedly modernized. In addition to the US Navy, the five-inch artillery mount is in service with the fleets of many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Spain, Thailand and many others.
Over the entire period of production and operation, five upgrades of the installation were created, the last of which is the modernization of the Mk 45 Mod. 4. This installation received an updated barrel, the length of which is 62 caliber, which made it possible to increase the firing range and ballistic characteristics of the gun. The maximum rate of fire of the installation is 16-20 rounds per minute, when using guided ammunition - up to 10 rounds per minute. Maximum firing range of the Mk 45 Mod. 4 reached 36-38 km. Specifically for this installation, as part of the ambitious ERGM (Extended Range Guided Munition) program, 127-mm ramjet projectiles were developed, but by 2008, the program, on which more than $ 600 million was spent, was closed. The projectiles under development with a maximum firing range of up to 115 km turned out to be too expensive in mass production even for the richest country in the world.
In our country, the most powerful shipborne installation for many years is the AK-130, the main advantage of which over foreign competitors is a high rate of fire, which, in particular, is achieved by the fact that it is double-barreled. Like many modern five-inch guns, this is a versatile artillery mount that can also fire at air targets. In the arsenal of the AK-130 there are anti-aircraft shells with a radius of destruction of 8 or 15 meters, depending on the model. The installation, developed in the USSR back in the 1970s, has a very high rate of fire for two barrels, which reaches 86-90 rounds per minute (according to various sources). The maximum firing range of high-explosive unitary ammunition is 23 kilometers, the barrel length is 54 caliber. Currently, one such installation is placed on board the largest Russian surface ship - the Peter the Great nuclear-powered missile cruiser. The flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva, is armed with a similar installation, as well as a number of large surface ships of the Russian Navy still of Soviet construction.
At the same time, a 100-mm single-barreled artillery mount A190 was installed on modern corvettes of the 20380 project. This model is characterized by reduced weight while maintaining a high rate of fire - up to 80 rounds per minute. In the A190-01 version, it received a stealth turret. The maximum firing range is 21 kilometers, the height reach when firing at air targets is 15 kilometers. In addition to corvettes, the installation is the standard armament of small missile ships of the project 21631 "Buyan-M" with a displacement of only 949 tons. At the same time, a new 130-mm artillery mount A-192 "Armat" was developed to equip modern Russian frigates of Project 22350. The installation was created on the basis of the aforementioned AK-130 system by lightening it (one gun remained) and installing a modern fire control system. The rate of fire of the installation is up to 30 rounds per minute. The ease of installation makes it easy to place it on modern Russian ships, even with a small displacement - from 2000 tons.
Prospects for naval artillery of the main caliber
It would seem that the main caliber artillery in the fleets of practically all countries of the world has reached its optimum state. However, this does not mean that the work towards increasing her power has come to an end. Many countries around the world are studying options for installing 155-mm artillery mounts on ships, working on the creation of new 155-mm projectiles with ramjet engines, which will increase the firing range, and are considering weapon options based on new physical principles. The latter option includes a well-publicized rail gun or railgun today.
The term "railgun" itself was proposed in the late 1950s by Soviet academician Lev Artsimovich. One of the reasons for the creation of such systems, which are an electromagnetic mass accelerator, was the achievement of the speed and range of the projectile when using propellants. They tried to overcome this value using a railgun, which would provide the projectile with hypersonic speed. The greatest success in the development of such weapons was achieved in the United States, where, during the beginning of the 21st century, numerous tests of rail guns were carried out, which were planned to be used primarily in the navy. In particular, it was the railgun that was considered as an option for armament for the most modern ships of the American fleet - the Zamvolt destroyers. However, in the end, these plans were abandoned, arming the destroyers, too, with a kind of unique weapon 155-mm artillery installation of an active-reactive scheme. At the same time, success in the development of railguns is not obvious, the tested samples are still very raw and do not meet the requirements of the military. In the foreseeable future, this weapon is unlikely to reach the stage of combat readiness.
Of greatest interest are artillery installations of 155 mm or 152 mm caliber in Russia, which may appear on ships of new construction. For example, in Germany, experiments were carried out with the installation of an excellent ACS Pz 2000 on warships. These experiments began in Germany in 2002. At the same time, such studies have not yet gone beyond experiments. In Russia, a similar option is being considered, which involves the placement on ships of a 152-mm artillery installation, which is a naval adaptation of the modern Russian self-propelled guns "Coalition-SV", known under the designation "Coalition-F". However, so far such a system has not been demanded by the Russian fleet. It is worth noting here that there are no new ships in the fleet for such artillery. In the future, such 152-mm installations could be received by destroyers of project 23560 "Leader" with a displacement of 13 to 19 thousand tons. But so far, the 130-mm A192 "Armat" installation, which is already being installed on the new Russian frigates of Project 22350, is indicated as artillery weapons for these ships.
So far, the only country that has nevertheless placed 155-mm installations on modern warships is the United States. Three destroyers "Zamvolt" are equipped with 155-mm artillery mounts AGS (Advanced Gun System). A unique ammunition was developed especially for them - a guided projectile LRLAP, which a gun with a barrel length of 62 caliber sends to a distance of 148 - 185 kilometers (in different sources). At the same time, the American military is not delighted with these ammunition, which cost almost $ 0.8-1 million apiece. Such "shells" are practically equal in price to the cost of the Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have a longer flight range and a greater power delivered to the target by the warhead. For the US military, this cost was unacceptable. Therefore, various options are currently being considered for a way out, in particular the development of more traditional ammunition.
In this aspect, new artillery ammunition of 155-mm caliber with ramjet engines, which are being actively developed in many countries of the world, are of interest. Such ammunition is being developed and actively shown at exhibitions by the Norwegian company Nammo, which has already completed the first stage of testing this product. Norwegian experts estimate the promising firing range of such projectiles from installations with a barrel length of 52-62 caliber at about 100-150 kilometers. If tests of such ammunition are successful, and prices for them do not compete with missile weapons, such ammunition can spur naval interest in 155-mm artillery mounts, which were only medium-caliber guns for battleships of the past.
