Well, since the end of WWII, the power of the battleship have been questioned, with many believing that the Aircraft Carrier is the replacement as the main ship. However, some people and I believe that the battleship will return. Although there is no evidence to prove this, I still firmly believe it.

THE GANGSTER SHOOTOUT!!!!

THEN THE STATE TROOPERS WITH THE TANKS COME IN!!!

BUT THE SOLDIERS WERE DRUNK AND THEY PARTYED!!!!

The Marines regretted the retirement of the battleships. No other ship could deliver the devastating fire power of the battleship. Unfortunately, the problem with battleships is that they are extremely expensive to operate. They require a huge crew, fuel and an escort complement that equals that of a carrier. I wonder if we can return to a 10,000 ton ocean going armored platform like the Graf Spee except with one turret or even a fast monitor?

The idea is that EM railguns will achieve the hitting power and rate of fire of the former battleships, and will be mountable on much smaller platforms.

Our battleships obsolete? No, you see a few around as museums.

I am liking the railgun. Someone at BAE has been playing quake.... In all seriousness I am wondering what material is used in the barrell. That will probably be more of a achievement than the weapon itself.

Kevlar was once cutting edge high tech stuff... a miracle fiber.
As for the rail gun... it's going to need one hell of a coolant.

What happened to the DDX program, the one with the special 5" with satellite guided shells that was designed for ground support? Did that get axed or is it still in planning?

As far as I know it got scrapped.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita.../ship/dd-x.htm
Curious enough that it's been scrapped twice.

I guess they just don't know exactly what this thing is supposed to be or what it's supposed to do.

Originally Posted by mmarsh

What happened to the DDX program, the one with the special 5" with satellite guided shells that was designed for ground support? Did that get axed or is it still in planning?

It's still around as DDG-1000, but we're only planning on building two or three as a means of testing future designs.

And, I'm sure whatever they're using for the rails is pretty highly classified

It will no doubt be a mix of heavy elements at the bottom of the periodic table. It has the potential to change allot of things. Hopefully it's not classified for too long.