Originally Posted by
Navaleye
The 5" Mk45 mount fires the Volcano round at ranges of up to 90km and is effective against land and sea targets. At 20 rpm it could demolish an enemy ship very cost effectively. It will be on the T26 from the get go and should cover any delays in future anti-ship missiles.
The current 4.5" Mk 8 gives you 27km with base bleed ammunition, so 90km is a significant upgrade. and will "do" in most instances
That totally ignores the armament and capabilities of Russian and Chinese vessels that the RN could well be involved with stand offs with in the coming days, let alone 2029!
No airborne anti-shipping capability on Lightning or Poseidon, no underwater to surface capability on RN submarines since sub-Harpoon was retired, and a small number of Wildcat that will soon maybe be armed with short range Sea Venom and Martlet missiles.
This capability gap out to the early 2030's was less of a concern prior to the Ukraine situation.
Our politicians are making boastful claims that they do not have the equipment to be able to back up.
UK armed forces now look seriously under armed and exposed in light of current threats.
What a waste of a defence budget.