The US Army's Super Cannon Is Coming. Could It Bring Back Battleships?

The US Army is working on a new, long range cannon it claims can reach out and strike targets at up to 1 850 km – about 1 820 km further than existing guns. But the Strategic Long Range Cannon (SLRC) also has the potential to bring back a dormant class of biggun warships once thought gone for good: the mighty battleship. The

The US Army’s super cannon is coming. Could it bring back battleships?

The US Army is working on a new, longrange cannon it claims can reach out and strike targets at up to 1 850 km – about 1 820 km further than existing guns. But the Strategic Long Range Cannon (SLRC) also has the potential to bring back a dormant class of biggun warships once thought gone for good: the mighty battleship. The US Army hasn’t yet explained how the SLRC will reach the extraordinary range, but it seems confident the gun will work as planned, aiming to test a prototype in 2023. The service sees the weapon as a towed gun pulled by a heavy truck, using its range to blast a hole in enemy air and sea defences big enough for US forces to squeeze through. But the SLRC faces limitations as a wholly landbased system. Countries such as the Philippines, Germany, Norway, and Japan would have to grant the US Army permission to locate the weapon on their soil, and the truck-based SLRC would be restricted to paved roads. Just getting the gun to the battlefield would require nearby airfields, secure airspace, and enough US Air Force transports to lug the big guns around. The solution: Base at least some of the cannons on ships.

A single ship could carry abroad the entire four-gun battery that the army envisioned for deploying SLRC, plus shells to keep the guns firing. A warship could relocate the guns at sea without asking anyone for permission, and would be more difficult for enemy forces to target. It would also have greater flexibility, deploying into areas where local allies might not be willing to host big guns.