The missiles, despite their falling price cannot match the cost benefits afforded by the traditional naval gun. The electromagnetic rail gun appears promising and can fire non-explosive shells to large distances (more than 100 km) with great accuracy at velocities up to 7.5 Mach, but it is some time away from the prototype stage. Promising development on the laser weapon system (LaWS), whose prototype is going to be positioned onboard USS Ponce next year, may lead to a very cost-effective solution against small boats and UAVs, but it cannot replace the naval gun in all its roles. Despite some promising developments in the recent past, the naval gun is likely to remain the mainstay at least till 2025 if not till 2040. The naval gun continues to be entrenched in its position as the main workhorse armament onboard ships of the major navies. All these make the large calibre gun a very cost beneficial solution in naval surface fire support (NSFS). The air operations in high threat environments are hindered by availability, mission priorities, weather, as well as prohibitive costs. The penetration ability in case of hard targets is practically as good as ordnance delivered by air. With the advent of precision guidance in larger calibre rounds, collateral damage has been considerably reduced.
During protracted war, the large calibre guns outshine the missiles and smaller calibre guns because of large replacement costs of the missiles, much less lethality of smaller calibre rounds as well as the large number of both the missiles and rounds required to be stored onboard. To achieve similar effects in suppressing the enemy, a much greater number of rounds would have to be fired from smaller calibre guns like the MK 45 (five-inch). Larger calibres provide support at much larger ranges and are essential for destroying fortified positions. It was concluded that naval gunfire support had been crucial during the past operations. Studies were caried out in the United States to meet the requirements of the US marines, after the massive battleships of Iowa class retired.
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