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Gunfight! Does the Navy’s Little Warship Need a Bigger Cannon?

Rogue Valley

Lead or get out of the way
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Gunfight! Does the Navy’s Little Warship Need a Bigger Cannon?

Size matters to gunmakers competing to arm the Littoral Combat Ship against pirates, China, and Iran....


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This argument reminds me greatly of the .223 v .308 debate (said another way, the NATO designation 5.56x45mm vs. 7.62x51mm - and similar.)

Came down to the same thing, accuracy v other ballistics statistics (like impact at distance.)
 
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The purpose of the 57mm gun is to attack "small boat or personal watercraft" type targets.

For larger Chinese or Iranian vessels bearing a 76mm gun the LCS has other weapons, namely stealth, a suite of sensors including sonar, satellite, laser, and unmanned aerial and submersible vehicles, non-line of sight surface-to-surface missiles, and missile armed helicopters.

This thing isn't, and isn't supposed to be, a frigate or a corvette.

It's something new and different and intended to fill a hole which frigates and corvettes don't adequately fill.

Seems to me that this is just a case of a little ship trying to be all things to all people.
 
A 57mm gun firing at 220 rpm throws about the same amount of lead downrange as a 76mm gun at 120 rpm and the difference in effective ranges isn't great. This strikes me as a manufacturer doing a bit of media marketing.

Main gun bore diameter is the least of LCS problems.
 
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