Chinese researchers eye naval guns as low-cost defense against drone swarms

Chinese military researchers are exploring whether large-calibre naval guns, similar to those proposed for the United States' Trump-class battleship, could offer a cost-effective solution against low-cost drone swarms.

Wang Lei and his team from the People's Liberation Army's Dalian Naval Academy suggest these guns could fire prefabricated-fragment shells that explode near drone swarms, creating high-speed clouds of shrapnel capable of damaging multiple targets within an area.

Trump-class battleship sparks debate

The Trump-class battleship, unveiled in December as part of the president's proposed "Golden Fleet," is designed to combine extensive missile capacity with nine large naval guns and other electromagnetic weapons. The proposal has drawn skepticism from experts and social media commenters questioning whether concentrating such firepower on a single, extremely expensive platform makes tactical sense in an era dominated by long-range missiles and unmanned weapons.

One US online commenter ridiculed the plan as "designed by a rich moron with no concept of practicality or functionality," while another joked that the ships would be "quite literally gold-plated," mocking their perceived wastefulness and extreme cost.

The Chinese researchers' interest highlights a broader military debate over how navies should counter the proliferation of inexpensive drone swarms, which can overwhelm defenses through sheer numbers while remaining cheaper to deploy than the missiles typically used to destroy them.

Source: South China Morning Post