Chinese scientists back Trump's love for battleships with big guns
What's the story
Chinese military scientists have backed the controversial idea of US President Donald Trump to build new warships with large-caliber guns. The proposal, widely criticized as a billionaire's vanity project and a throwback to World War II-era battleships, has been suggested by Wang Lei and his team from the People's Liberation Army's Dalian Naval Academy. They published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Command Control & Simulation supporting the move.
Strategic advantage
Guns could help counter drone swarms
The Chinese scientists believe that large-caliber naval guns could play a crucial role in future warfare, especially against the rising threat of inexpensive drone swarms.
They proposed these guns could fire prefabricated-fragment shells that would detonate near a swarm of drones, creating a high-speed cloud of fragments.
This cloud would be capable of damaging multiple targets within an area, giving a strategic edge to the warship using it.
Fleet
A look at the Trump-class battleship
The Trump-class battleship, part of the US president's proposed "Golden Fleet," was unveiled in December.
It is designed to combine a huge missile capacity with nine large naval guns and other electromagnetic weapons.
However, the proposal has drawn skepticism from experts and social media users alike, who question the logic of putting so much firepower on one extremely expensive platform in an age of long-range missiles and unmanned weapons.